


Kindred 10: The Doctor

by torturingtaylor (itzaimster)



Series: Kindred Series [10]
Category: Hanson
Genre: Brothers, Clones, Conspiracy, Drug Use, Gen, Genetics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-26
Updated: 2017-04-14
Packaged: 2018-10-06 19:36:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 24,625
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10343139
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itzaimster/pseuds/torturingtaylor
Summary: Damien is determined to flush out a leak at the labs and sets his sights on Keandre. While he's distracted, Alex finally learns the truth. Things are tense between the Hanson family, particularly Taylor and his Mom. Both Taylor and Mark receive recruitment calls from Morris. Joey arrives at the lab.





	1. Chapter 1

Emma jumped as the door opened, looking up to see one of the clones entering the room. He took a quick glance at Carey before closing the door behind himself.  
“Hey,” he greeted awkwardly.  
“You’re… Damien, right?” she guessed, showing just how tired she was.  
“Alex,” he put a hand to his chest as he introduced himself.  
“Oh my God, Alex?” she pulled herself to her feet, “sorry, my head is just everywhere. Care told me so much about you.”  
She stepped around the bed and pulled him into a hug. He tentatively responded, now wondering exactly what Carey had said.  
“No problem,” he assured before she let go, “Damien’s the one in the white coat.”  
“Sure, sure,” she stood back to wipe her eyes, “how are you, are you okay?”  
“Better than Carey,” he folded his arms, looking down at the bed, “so I guess I should be grateful for that.”  
Emma paused, watching the expression on his face.  
“What happened to Care wasn’t anything to do with you boys,” she felt the need to insist, “it’s because of something Mark did.”  
“What?” Alex frowned in surprise.  
“Oh,” she realised, “…you guys don’t know what happened?”  
“No,” he shook his head.  
Emma sighed at that, not really wanting to tell him. But she knew he deserved to know. He already seemed worried that a similar thing might happen to him.  
“Mark got himself tied up with the mob in Chicago,” she admitted, folding her own arms.  
“The _mob_?” Alex was shocked.  
“The same one Colin was tied to. I think they approached him and he asked them to… help him,” she tried to be careful with what she said here, “and he obviously didn’t know what he was getting into.”  
“How did that affect Carey?” Alex tried to understand.  
“Mistaken identity I guess?” she shrugged, “Mark hasn’t told me the whole story. But he’s back in Chicago so… obviously they know there’s two of them now. Three, including Colin.”  
She paused.  
“I saw him on the way in,” she admitted, keeping her eyes down, “are they really just waiting for him to die?”  
“As far as I know,” Alex confirmed, “I don’t really know what they’re hoping for where he’s concerned.”  
“And what about Carey?” she hated to ask, but she had to, “are they waiting for him to die too?”  
“Damien thinks he’s going to wake up, they just don’t know when,” Alex tried to reassure her, “he says the coma is a way for him to heal in more ways than one.”  
Emma nodded, feeling only a little better.  
“I’m sorry,” he added as an afterthought, “Carey’s a good guy, he doesn’t deserve this.”  
Emma wiped her face before going to sit down again.  
“You’ll have to take that up with Mark,” she murmured to herself.

“You sure you’ll be okay?” Zac’s brow rose as he pulled the car to a stop.  
“I don’t know,” Keandre admitted, his eyes down as he fiddled with one of his rings.  
He took one of the larger ones off and held it out. Zac put his hand underneath to catch it.  
“Give this to Isaac. Keep it safe.”  
“Sure,” Zac agreed, eyeing it before slipping it into a pocket, “anything else?”  
Keandre looked up to the building they’d come to but he shook his head.  
“No,” he said before opening the truck door, “merci Zac.”  
“You’re welcome,” Zac called back before the door closed, “…I hope.”  
He kept his eye on Keandre as he made his way up to the doors, before spying a security guard making his way over. Before he could approach the truck Zac pulled out of the driveway and took off down the street. He managed to dial Isaac’s number once he was further away to let him know Keandre was gone.  
Keandre meanwhile made his way into the reception area, spotting the desk and making his way over.  
“Excusez-moi,” he began, “I am here to see Ivan Morris?”  
“Your name?” the receptionist didn’t bother looking up.  
“Keandre Moreau.”  
She made a call, keeping her voice down. When she was done she pointed to the seats Isaac and Taylor had gone to.  
“Take a seat, he’ll be with you shortly.”  
Keandre looked over his shoulder, not seeing her double take when she saw his face. He went to take a seat.  
It was a while before Morris appeared, flanked by his usual security.  
“Keandre Moreau,” he welcomed with a smile, “tellement agréable de te voir. S'il vous plaît, venez avec nous. Nous vous installons tout de suite.”  
Keandre eyed the guards, not at all intimidated by them despite their size. He followed Morris back through security and into an elevator to the third floor. He paused when he stepped out to take a look around.  
“This way,” Morris indicated for him to keep following.  
He led him to the showers where he instructed him in French as to what to do. Keandre was soon showered and changed and Morris was there to lead him on. Without ever telling him anything they planned to do with him, Keandre was led to the cells. Jesse stood in surprise when he came in, seeing the clothes and knowing instantly it wasn’t Alex or Damien.  
“Prendre quel lit vous voulez,” Morris offered, “vous ne serez pas verrouillé à l'intérieur.”  
“Why not?” Keandre rubbed his arms apprehensively.  
Morris paused, not expecting him to use English instead.  
“Because they don’t need to be,” he assured, “we will bring you something to eat shortly.”  
Morris gave the security guards a nod before departing. They followed him out before both clones heard the outer door bolting closed.  
“Keandre?” Jesse guessed as he began to look around, “why are you here?”  
“I come to what they want,” he walked over to the clock to inspect it.  
“Pardon?” Jesse frowned.  
“Parlez-vous Français?” Keandre turned to him with a frown.  
“Only a little,” Jesse admitted, “enough to get by. Like you and your English.”  
“Why are you…?” Keandre indicated his locked cell.  
“Long story,” Jesse blew off, “why aren’t you?”  
“Maybe they trust me more,” Keandre mused, going to study the camera instead.  
“I bet they do,” Jesse muttered to himself, his brain ticking over.

Alex jumped as the door opened, not expecting the intrusion. Before Emma had arrived barely anyone had come into Carey’s room at all. The doctors did their regular checks but that was it.  
“This is Damien,” he quickly introduced before he could say anything.  
Damien paused when he locked eyes with Emma before shrugging it off and turning to Alex.  
“Keandre’s here,” he announced.  
“Keandre?” Emma frowned.  
“What? Why?” Alex mirrored her look.  
“I don’t know yet, he just showed up,” Damien shrugged, “they put him in with Jesse.”  
“Jesse?” Alex’s brow rose.  
“If you want to go, go,” Emma insisted, “we’re not going anywhere.”  
“I don’t… really know Keandre,” Alex admitted, “I wouldn’t know what to say to him.”  
“I’ve got a few things to say,” Damien turned to leave the room, not bothering to say a word to Emma before he did.  
“You might want to be in on that,” she suggested.  
Alex gave her an awkward glance before nodding and following Damien out.

“Looks like the circus is in town,” Jesse’s brow rose when they came through the door.  
“You shut up,” Damien pointed to him, “Keandre, get in there.”  
He indicated the cell opposite to Jesse’s. Keandre just frowned in return.  
“Why?” he asked.  
“Just do it, and don’t tell me you don’t know what I’m saying,” Damien scorned.  
Keandre sighed somewhat dramatically, before slowly raising his hands in surrender and walking up to the cell. Damien gave a nod to the guard who came over to secure it once Keandre was inside.  
“What are you doing?” Alex asked nervously, wondering if he were next.  
“You speak Russian?” Damien demanded.  
“No,” Keandre lowered his hands.  
“You’re lying,” Damien’s brow rose, “I heard you talking to them. You understood what they were saying.”  
Alex locked eyes with Jesse, still standing awkwardly back by the door. Jesse stood from the bed and quietly made his way to the front of the cell.  
“Maybe,” Keandre’s eyes didn’t leave Damien.  
“I need to know what they were saying.”  
“Does Morris know you’re here?” Jesse’s head tilted as he leaned against the glass, “or is this just extra-curricular?”  
“I told you to shut up,” Damien threw over his shoulder.  
“Come in here and make me,” Jesse dared.  
“I like you,” Keandre pointed in his direction.  
“Why is this so important all of a sudden?” Jesse ignored him.  
“I didn’t say anything,” Alex insisted with a shake of his head.  
“Not to me,” Damien confirmed, “but I heard you anyway.”  
Jesse grit his teeth when he realised there had to be microphones in the cells. It was the first confirmation he’d had.  
“Why you ask me about Russia?” Keandre shrugged, “you were not taken. You have more time with them than I.”  
“But I didn’t understand them,” Damien scorned, “you did!”  
“I was not always listening too.”  
“Bullshit!”  
“Why do you think he knows anything?” Jesse demanded, “he was locked up just as long as we were. If I didn’t hear anything, why would he?”  
Damien shot a glare in Jesse’s direction.  
“You know if the wind changes it’ll stay like that,” Jesse warned.  
Alex had to bite his lip to stop himself from smiling.  
“Screw this,” Damien stormed out, pushing past security.  
“What the fuck?” Jesse looked exasperated once he was gone.  
“I don’t know, I don’t know what’s going on,” Alex looked worried, unsure if he should follow.  
“He’s gotta know about the meeting, Morris was organising it,” Jesse frowned, “why does he want more?”  
“He said nothing happened in Russia. When he was left behind,” Alex turned back, “he had to be lying. Right?”  
“I’d bet on it,” Jesse eyed the open door before going back to his bed to sit down.  
“You are saying…” Keandre began to pace, “you are knowing what he is asking?”  
“Sort of,” Jesse waved his hand, “but not really.”  
He looked up to the door again when he heard footsteps in the hall. Alex immediately backed against the cell nearest to the door when two handlers appeared, Damien just behind them.  
“Take him,” Damien indicated Keandre.  
“Take him where?” Jesse frowned as the guard came to unlock the cell again.  
Keandre’s hands went up again when he realised what was happening, but the handlers soon had them zip tied behind his back. He was pulled from the cell and Damien led them into the corridor.  
“Find out what’s happening,” Jesse’s eyes locked on Alex once they were gone.  
“I don’t know if I can,” Alex admitted, feeling his heart race with the tension in the air, “what if he turns on me? What if-“  
“Try!” Jesse scowled, “you’re the only one who can!”  
Alex chewed his bottom lip before deciding to take the plunge and follow Damien out. The guard pointed him in the right direction before closing the door on Jesse again. Jesse ran his fingers through his hair as he wondered what Keandre was in for.

Damien had led them down toward the end of the floor where Carey and Colin were being kept. As Alex turned a corner he saw them disappearing into a room he hadn’t been in yet. When he saw the door close behind them he started to approach more cautiously.  
He made it to the door in time to hear Damien give another order, this time telling the handlers to strap Keandre onto a table or bed. Keandre wasn’t responding vocally and Alex couldn’t see through the window. He wasn’t getting much from where he was, and he knew it wouldn’t be a good idea to knock.  
He was debating going back to the cells to tell Jesse when he heard something behind him.  
“Alex? Alex!”  
He turned to see Emma leaning out from Carey’s doorway.  
“Alex I think he’s waking up!”


	2. Chapter 2

Alex entered the room to see that Carey’s facial expression had indeed changed. Without waiting to wonder if he should, he went to hit the panic button on the back wall. They heard an alarm sound from the down the corridor and rushed footsteps soon followed.  
“Care? Carey?!” Emma was patting his face.  
The fingers on his left hand stretched and his brow furrowed.  
“Carey I’m here!”  
“Excuse us,” one of the doctors had to gently push her out of the way so they could get to work.  
Another one turned the panic button off as the first began to quickly remove the tubing from his throat. By the time he’d finished Carey’s eyes had opened.  
At first it took some time for anything to become clear, but when all he saw were blurry white figures standing over him he started to panic.  
“Mr Miller! Mr Miller! Calm down!” one of the doctors insisted, trying to hold his right arm down onto the bed.  
“Carey calm down!” Emma called out, Alex putting a hand on her shoulder in a minor attempt to hold her back as her husband thrashed erratically.  
The sound of Emma’s voice made him pause, and he struggled to focus his eyes so that he could try and see where she was.  
“Emma?!” his voice broke, unable to see anything beyond the white lab coats that surrounded the bed.  
“I’m here!”  
“Mr Miller,” one of the doctors tried to get his attention, “take some deep breaths. You need to calm down.”  
Hoping he hadn’t just imagined her voice, Carey forced himself to try and calm down. He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to block out the chaos around him. He tried to imagine Mark holding his hand.  
“Mr Miller?”  
His eyes shot open again when he felt someone touch his left arm.  
“Can you tell us what year it is?” the doctor was asking.  
“2017,” he responded, “where’s Emma?”  
“I’m here! I’m right here.”  
One of the doctors stood aside and Emma immediately darted forward.  
“Emma,” he sighed in relief once he saw her face, “where am I? What’s going on?”  
“Don’t worry about that,” she insisted, taking his hand, “you just need to focus on getting better.”  
Carey’s eyes wandered at that, finally taking in his surroundings.  
“Am I in hospital?” he frowned, trying to sit up.  
“Stay down,” the doctor to his right warned, still holding his arm down.  
“You don’t remember what happened?” Emma looked worried.  
His eyes went down and she saw his face begin to pale from the red it had gone.  
“Why can’t I feel my feet?” he was trying not to panic again, “why can’t I feel my legs?!”  
“Stay calm,” the doctor to the left insisted, “they’re just numb. We’ve checked for paralysis and you should have none.”  
Carey worked to get his breath back as he fell back onto the pillow, Emma moving some hair from his face.  
“How long have I been here?” he asked next.  
“Just over a week,” Emma replied.  
“A week?” he frowned up at her, “…what happened to me?”  
“What’s the last thing you remember?” she asked with a frown.  
He frowned back, knowing it was a test. But it was like his memory just… flashed. Nothing was sticking.  
“I don’t know,” he admitted, “I remember waking up in the morning but… I don’t remember anything.”  
“Amnesia’s gotta be normal for this kind of thing, right?” Alex asked, still behind the doctors, “with the head wound and everything?”  
“Mark?!” Carey tried to sit up again.  
He was held down, but Alex stood to the side so that he could see him past Emma.  
“It’s not Mark, it’s Alex,” Emma covered for him, “he’s as worried as I am.”  
“Alex,” Carey frowned, looking confused for a moment before his eyes darted across to the doctor still holding his right arm down.  
“Why aren’t you letting go?” his breathing quickened again.  
“Care…” Emma pulled his attention back, “there’s something you need to know.”  
His brow furrowed again as the doctor did finally let his arm go. He raised his hand so he could look at the bandaging that left only his thumb and pointer fingers free.  
“Can we have a moment?” Emma looked between the doctors.  
One of them quickly finished their check of the monitors before giving the others a nod. They quietly left the room, one of them pulling out a pager on the way.  
“I’m afraid to ask,” Carey dropped his hand again, turning his eyes back to her.  
“When we found you, it was bad,” she wasn’t sure where to start, “Mark called 911 and you were taken straight to hospital right away. They did surgeries on your chest, your legs and your hand.”  
“What happened?” Carey frowned again, “was it a car accident or something?”  
Alex was awkwardly hugging himself in the background and trying not to pace. He wasn’t sure if he should have followed the doctors or not.  
“I don’t know what you remember, but Mark got himself into some trouble,” she tried to stay calm herself, “with the mob in Chicago.”  
“The mob?” Carey’s brow rose, “the _mob_?”  
Emma hushed him but he didn’t lay down again.  
“Where is he?” he asked next, “is he okay?”  
“He’s fine. Actually…” she looked over her shoulder, “Alex can you call him and tell him Care’s awake?”  
“I can try,” Alex shrugged, “but they don’t like me using the phones.”  
“Thanks,” Emma gave him a smile, prompting him to leave.  
She waited until the door closed behind him and they watched him walk past the window.  
“I don’t know the full story,” she admitted, “but I know they weren’t happy with Mark. They came after him in LA and somehow they ended up with you instead.”  
“The _mob_ broke my legs?” Carey’s brow furrowed again, “because of something Mark did?”  
Emma bit her lip and nodded. Carey took a deep breath and scratched at his forehead.  
“And they took your little finger.”  
Carey’s eyes locked on hers again, as if he hadn’t heard her properly. But when he looked down at his right hand she knew he had.  
He lifted it again to study the bandaging.  
“I’m sorry,” Emma had trouble not getting upset again, “they couldn’t save it.”  
“I’m missing a finger?” he frowned, looking it over, “it doesn’t feel like I’m missing a finger.”  
It was hard to see anything with the casts on the other two.  
“I saw it,” Emma confirmed, “it’s gone.”  
Carey fell back onto the pillow at that, just trying to comprehend it.  
“At least I’m left-handed I guess,” he smirked to himself, trying to make light even as his eyes started to well up.  
Emma took hold of his left hand again and he gave hers a squeeze.

“Hopefully this will be over quick,” Damien muttered as the handler applied the IV to Keandre’s arm.  
Keandre watched them in silence, keeping his breathing even. Damien began to pace as he worked out in his head what he wanted to ask him.  
“It should take full effect in about ten minutes,” one of the handlers informed him, “I’ll inform Dr Morris.”  
“Don’t bother,” Damien insisted, “I’ll do it myself. Once I’m done with him.”  
The handler hesitated, but reluctantly nodded and left the room. His partner soon followed.  
Keandre’s eyes went to where Damien was still slowly pacing. He had a pretty good idea of what was going on. They didn’t call it the ‘lab’ for nothing.  
Damien finally took a seat and his eyes locked with Keandre’s. Keandre didn’t even flinch.  
“Why aren’t you afraid?” Damien’s eyes narrowed, still not gaining a reaction.  
Keandre actually just wasn’t sure of the word. He wasn’t sure if he’d heard it before. Plus, he was starting to feel dizzy.  
“We know you weren’t adopted, Keandre,” Damien added, trying to stir a response, “I’m going to have to ask you some questions about your mother.”  
Keandre did frown at that, and Damien was finally satisfied with the reaction.  
“Feeling tired yet?” he mused, “you’re about to tell me everything I want to know.”  
“I don’t know what you want to know,” Keandre rolled his eyes.  
“We’ll see about that,” Damien assured, taking a seat to wait for the drug to take effect.

Alex kept his eye out for either Damien or Morris as he made his way through toward the cafeteria. He spotted Morris in a corridor walking hastily in his direction. Not wanting to answer any questions, he ducked into an open doorway and waited for the group to pass. It looked like he was heading toward Carey’s room.  
Once he was sure their footsteps had faded he continued on his way. There didn’t seem to be anyone watching the phone, so he quickly grabbed the receiver and dialled the number he remembered.  
It rang for a long time and he momentarily panicked that he’d entered the number wrong. When it was finally answered he wasn’t even sure if it were Mark on the other end.  
“Mark…?” he frowned.  
“Yeah,” a groan replied.  
“Carey’s awake!” he hoped he could hear him, “it’s Alex, at the lab. Your brother’s awake!”  
“What?”  
Alex chewed his lip, wondering if Mark was drunk.  
“Carey’s awake, he woke up from the coma,” he repeated, “he doesn’t remember what happened, but-“  
“Carey’s awake?”  
“Yes!”  
“…Fuck.”  
“Mark what’s wrong?” Alex’s frown deepened, “are you okay?”  
“I’m great. I’m just… can I talk to him?”  
“No, sorry,” Alex checked over his shoulder again, “I can’t get the phone to him. But Emma’s with him and I think Morris is about to pay them a visit.”  
“Right…”  
“I can try and keep you updated?” Alex offered, “I’m not sure how often I can get to the phone but-“  
“That’s okay, just call whenever,” Mark sounded tired now, “you’d better get back to him.”  
“Oh… okay,” Alex was taken aback, “take care Mark.”  
Mark hung up before Alex could, and he tentatively put the receiver back.  
Mark meanwhile had dropped his cell phone onto the kitchen bench where he was sitting with Colin’s crystal decanter.  
“Bad news?” he looked up as Janine came into the kitchen, looking a little worried.  
“No,” Mark clasped his hands, “my brother woke up.”  
“Oh. Well that’s good!” she insisted, coming to put a hand on his shoulder, “he’ll be back on his feet in no time!”  
“You know what they did to him, right?” Mark’s brow rose.  
“I have an idea,” her voice lowered, “but let’s not talk about that right now. What do you want for dinner? Should we order some Italian?”  
She stepped away from him to go toward the refrigerator. She started searching through the touch screen.  
“We can have whatever you want,” Mark shrugged, pouring himself another drink.  
She tapped her bottom lip in thought as she decided. Mark folded his arms on the bench and dropped his head to lean on them.  
Carey wasn’t going to be happy when he saw him again. If he ever did.

Carey looked up when his door opened, and he frowned when he felt Emma tense beside him. He quickly wiped his face as the doctors walked in.  
“Carey,” Morris was smiling broadly, “so glad to see you awake. Do you feel okay?”  
“Apart from all the broken bones, fine,” Carey eyed the two men with him.  
“Yes, sadly they will take about five more weeks to heal. Then we will have to help you with some physiotherapy to get you up and about again,” Morris clasped his hands, “you must be hungry. I could have something sent in if you’d like?”  
“Sure,” he shot Emma a glance.  
Morris paused to look him over for a moment, before tilting his head slightly. Something about Carey’s reaction hadn’t seemed quite right.  
“Mr Miller, do you know who I am?” he had to ask.  
“Should I?” Carey looked to Emma again, “I mean I only just woke up…”  
“You don’t know who he is?” Emma’s brow rose in surprise.  
Carey shook his head, his eyes going back to Morris.  
“It would appear there’s a little more amnesia than first thought,” Morris concluded, “we’ll leave you two alone to… catch up a little. I’ll send in some food for you.”  
“Thanks,” Carey frowned, wondering why he was supposed to know the doctor in the first place.  
Emma waited until the door closed behind them before shifting in her seat.  
“Care… I need you to stay calm,” she insisted, “because it’s okay, okay?”  
“What’s okay?” he frowned, oblivious.


	3. Chapter 3

“I’m _where_?!”  
“Stay calm!” Emma insisted, “like I said, it’s okay! We’ve been here a week and nothing has happened! Jesse’s here somewhere too.”  
“Why?!” Carey demanded, pushing himself up on the bed, “where’s Mark?! Why am I… is that why there isn’t any windows?! Are we stuck here?!”  
“Care you can’t go anywhere anyway,” Emma tried to reason, “you can’t walk.”  
“That’s not what I meant!”  
They both looked up as the door opened again, Alex quickly ducking through and closing it behind himself.  
“I told Mark,” he didn’t move from the door, sensing tension in the room, “he didn’t sound like he was all there, but I think he got the idea.”  
“Do you know who Alex is?” Emma turned on Carey again.  
“Huh?” Alex frowned.  
“A clone,” Carey shrugged, “we knew there were more out there.”  
“He doesn’t know who I am?” Alex’s brow furrowed.  
“He doesn’t seem to remember anything from when you guys were first taken in,” Emma informed him.  
“How are we still breathing?” Carey shrugged, “how are we… where is everyone?! Mark’s in _Chicago _? Is he with Colin?! What about Taylor Hanson?”__  
“Wow there’s a lot to catch up on,” Alex grit his teeth.  
“Are there more? Besides Alex?” he looked to Emma, “did they find all of us?”  
“I think so,” Emma looked to Alex for confirmation.  
Alex held his hand out and shook it.  
“Maybe not,” she amended.  
“Do you want me here for this? Because I can go… I should probably tell Jesse he’s awake,” Alex offered.  
“Where is Jesse?” Carey frowned, “why isn’t he here?”  
“He’s… never mind,” Alex didn’t want to say it, so he chose to leave again instead.  
“He’s what?” Carey looked to Emma with worry.  
“He’s in a bit of trouble,” Emma’s voice lowered, “kind of… with the law.”  
Carey groaned and went to rub his face with his right hand, stopping when he saw the bandages again. He stared at them for a moment before dropping the hand back to the bed.

Damien was staring at Keandre as he began to have trouble keeping his eyes open. A quick check of his watch showed it had been longer than fifteen minutes, but despite his impatience he wanted to be sure. Something about Keandre was… different.  
“How are you feeling Keandre?” he chanced it, “sleepy? Truthful?”  
Keandre didn’t respond, but his head rolled to the side. Damien reached over to hold his chin and right it again.  
“Can’t have you falling asleep just yet. You have some questions to answer.”  
“Essaie-moi,” he responded in a weak voice.  
“I want you to use as much English as you can manage,” Damien insisted, already annoyed at the idea of having to translate everything from surveillance later, “let’s start with what happened to your Mom.”  
“Mère?”  
“…Yes,” Damien shrugged, not entirely sure, “what happened to her, Keandre?”  
“Cancer,” he frowned, closing his eyes tiredly.  
“Are you sure?” Damien pressed, “because we found no record of that.”  
“Cancer,” Keandre repeated, his head falling to the other side.  
Damien rolled his eyes and took a deep breath in order to stay calm.  
“Think about Russia,” he decided to leave it for now, “you spoke to the Russians a lot. Are you bilingual?”  
“I not know that word,” Keandre whispered.  
Damien leant over to pull his chin back again, worried he was purposely trying to fall asleep.  
“Can you speak Russian?” he changed the question.  
“Un peu.”  
“Great,” Damien muttered, realising he wasn’t going to understand whether he was actually getting the right answers or not, “did you understand what the Russians were saying?”  
“Un peu.”  
“Did anything tell you why they took us? Did they say why they wanted clones?”  
“Clones.”  
“Did they say why they wanted clones?!” Damien’s voice rose with his frustration.  
“Afficher. Recruter. Opérer. Se fondre,” Keandre seemed to babble.  
“I hope that makes sense to somebody,” Damien grit his teeth, hoping he was getting what he needed.  
“Ils voulaient que nous restassions tranquilles.” 

“Hey,” Alex ducked through the door once the guard opened it for him.  
“What’s wrong?” Jesse frowned from the bed.  
“Um. Something’s not wrong actually. Carey’s awake.”  
“Really?” Jesse’s brow rose, “is he okay?”  
“Yeah,” Alex folded his arms, “a bit of memory loss. He doesn’t remember me.”  
Jesse considered that for a moment.  
“It might be trauma related,” he reasoned, “Carey probably took our abductions the worst. He was always afraid they’d come for him.”  
“And now he’s going to go through it all again,” Alex winced.  
“Is Emma there?”  
“Yeah she’s right with him. I hope he’ll be okay.”  
Jesse nodded at that before he started to fidget.  
“What’s happening with Keandre?” he asked.  
“I don’t know,” Alex admitted, looking back over his shoulder, “I couldn’t hear anything from the door and then Carey woke up and I had to get the doctors and all that…”  
“I’m sure we’ll find out eventually,” Jesse sighed, looking somewhat uncomfortable.  
“Are you okay?” Alex frowned when he noticed.  
“Yeah,” Jesse insisted with a nod, “I just don’t trust Damien is all. He’s going to try and dig further than he should because he’s an entitled little shit.”  
He said the last part looking directly into the camera, knowing he’d be listening later.  
“What makes you say that?” Alex was confused.  
“About the golden child of the lab?” Jesse smirked, “don’t tell me you haven’t figured it out. You’ve been living with him.”  
“But I don’t see him much, he’s always working,” Alex shrugged.  
“Because work is his whole life,” Jesse pointed out, “he was born into this. We just happened to find out later. I wouldn’t be surprised if he didn’t even feel the needles anymore. He’s the one we’re all being compared to – not Taylor.”  
“But isn’t Taylor like… the first one? I mean he’s Isaac’s brother.”  
“Who knows?” Jesse shrugged, “just because he might have been inseminated first doesn’t mean he was the first made. There’s no way to tell who the original is unless there’s records somewhere. Paper, probably – being the 80’s.”  
“I could try and have a look around,” Alex lifted the pass from his chest, “I’m not sure how far this will get me, but it can’t hurt to try right?”  
“It’s not worth getting in trouble over,” Jesse insisted, “but it might be something to do if you’re bored.”  
“And now I just really want to know,” Alex admitted, “plus, there’s not much else to do here. I’m not sure if Carey’s going to want me around.”  
“I’m sure he will,” Jesse shrugged, “you didn’t know him before. He wanted to find out as much as he could about me and Colin. He even drove out to Shreveport to meet me and Chelsea I think… three days after he first made contact.”  
Alex’s brow rose at that.  
“He’ll be cool,” Jesse assured.  
“I hope so,” Alex sighed as he turned to leave.  
“Hey!” Jesse called after him, turning on the bed slightly, “can you do me a favor while you’re out there?” 

“Ike?” Taylor frowned as he answered the phone, “what’s wrong?”  
“Nothing. Sorry I didn’t see the time. I just got off the phone with Mom.”  
“Okay…” Taylor tiredly rubbed his face, “what’s up?”  
“Apparently you aren’t answering their calls anymore.”  
“I’ve got nothing to say to them,” Taylor insisted, “there’s no point when we can’t even talk about where they are or what they’re doing. Not to mention it’s because of them that we’re in this mess in the first place.”  
“You can’t hold that against them your whole life,” Isaac insisted, “or well… theirs.”  
“Try me,” Taylor’s eyes narrowed, “how about I forgive them when the labs stop fucking with my life? Better yet, how about when I’m finally able to stop looking over my shoulder? Or when I’m no longer scared to take the trash out at 3CG?”  
“It won’t last forever,” Isaac tried to reassure him, “and I know Mom wants to know how her grandkids are doing. Between you and Zac she barely knows anything anymore.”  
“She talks to Natalie,” Taylor scowled.  
“But she wants to talk to you!”  
Taylor rolled his eyes and turned so he could lean against the back of the couch.  
“I just need a break,” he tried to reason, “it’s only been a week since I last talked to her, and I didn’t know what to say then. ‘Hey Ma, I’m back from Russia where I was put on display like a zoo animal’.”  
“So find something else to talk about,” Isaac insisted, “talk about the kids and their schooling, talk about someone’s birthday coming up.”  
“You mean all the birthdays they’re missing? Where the kid in question keeps asking where their grandparents are?” Taylor’s brow rose.  
He heard Isaac sigh on the other end.  
“I appreciate your attempt at playing mediator,” Taylor assured, “but I’m just not ready. I need to… calm down first.”  
“So what am I supposed to tell them?”  
Taylor shrugged.  
“Tell them that. Tell them I need to calm down. That I’m still pissed off, and scared, and I need to sort us out. _My_ family is the priority right now. As long as the kids are still having nightmares about being snatched from Cancun, I’m not going to calm myself down.”  
“How are they?” he could hear the frown in Isaac’s voice, “are they going to be okay if we go on tour?”  
“I’m not even considering tour at this point,” Taylor admitted, rubbing his eyes, “this shit needs to settle down first.”  
“We don’t know that that’s going to happen,” Isaac pointed out, “and we can’t avoid touring forever.”  
“I know, I know.”  
He looked across as he saw Natalie’s shadow in the doorway, and knew she was coming to see what was keeping him up.  
“But I’m not committing to anything until I get a better handle on the situation. I don’t know what being back in Tulsa means yet as far as Morris is concerned.”  
“You’re worried he’s not going to keep up his end of the bargain?”  
“I know he doesn’t have to track us down anymore, he knows exactly where we are,” Taylor said before mouthing ‘Isaac’ to his wife.  
She nodded and turned to go back to bed. He waited until she was out of earshot and lowered his voice.  
“Especially now with this thing in my neck,” he said through his teeth.  
“You’re not considering getting it removed? Like professionally?”  
“What’s the point? They’ll only replace it. Like I said, they know where I live,” Taylor’s brow furrowed.  
“I don’t know what to say,” Isaac admitted, “I just know that Mom and Dad are worried, they don’t really know what’s going on with you, and we’re starting to get caught in the middle of it. I know she’s asked both Jess and Avie as well.”  
“Sorry but that probably won’t change,” Taylor shrugged again.  
“Great.”  
“Hey I’ll see you in the morning,” Taylor frowned, “we were just getting into bed.”  
“You will. And… sorry again about the time.”  
“It’s okay, you just caught me getting off the couch,” he stood up straight to stretch his back, “movie night. You won’t believe who fell asleep first.”  
“I could believe Ezra,” Isaac smirked.  
“Nope. River.”  
“You’re kidding.”  
“I’m not,” Taylor chuckled, “I’ll see you in the morning Ike.”  
“Goodnight Tay.”  
Taylor hung up before following his wife back to the bedroom. She was already in bed, reading on her phone.  
“Everything okay?” she looked up as he walked in.  
“Yeah, just Mom,” he quickly put his on charge, “she’s upset I haven’t talked to her for a while.”  
“Understandably. Especially when I’m literally about to hand you the phone and you say no.”  
“Well maybe we need to come up with better cover stories,” he got into bed and turned the lamp off, “goodnight.”  
Natalie sighed to herself as he settled down before getting back to her reading. She already knew better than to press him on the subject. But she’d hoped Isaac would have had better luck. 


	4. Chapter 4

Mark awoke to glaring sunlight coming through one of the kitchen windows. He berated himself for not remembering to shut the blinds before he’d passed out leaning over the bench, but he winced when he heard another one opening nearby.  
He forced his eyes open to see Janine walking along and opening every second one.  
“What are you doing?” his voice was groggy.  
“Morning sunshine!” she greeted with a smile, opening another blind.  
Mark blanched and covered his eyes as the light hit him directly this time. He heard her chuckle before making her way to the refrigerator and fetching a glass of iced water. She set it on the bench in front of him with a loud clang.  
“Drink,” she insisted, looking down at him.  
“What are you, my babysitter now?” he scorned, looking up.  
“Something like that,” she smirked, “the old man just doesn’t want you running off again. Or you know… killing yourself via alcohol poisoning in the meantime.”  
“I don’t even have anything else to do for him right now,” Mark frowned, a hand going around the glass anyway, “why would he be worried?”  
“Maybe because your brother just woke up and you haven’t made a move to be by his side yet?” Janine leant forward a little, staring him in the eye.  
Mark hesitated before his eyes fell.  
“Maybe I don’t think he wants me there,” he was dismal.  
“He’s your twin, isn’t he?” Janine scoffed, “why wouldn’t he?”  
“Do you want me here or not?” he answered her question with a question, “it’s like you’re here to stop me from leaving, but now you want to convince me to go?”  
“You can’t go,” she corrected, “I’m just interested in why you wouldn’t want to.”  
Mark grunted at that before having a drink. He winced at the cold as he set the glass down again.  
“So I’m a prisoner here now, is that it?” he wanted to confirm.  
“I wouldn’t say that,” Janine tilted her head, “where would you go anyway?”  
“Out,” he raised a brow, “for food?”  
“We can do that,” she insisted, “I just have to let them know what we’re doing.”  
“So you’re staying here now?” he demanded, “don’t you have a boyfriend or husband or something?”  
“Nope,” she traced her finger through the condensation left on the benchtop from the glass, “and apparently according to both the old man and my father, I have nothing better to do with my time.”  
Mark stared at her a moment as if to judge her sincerity, but decided he was too hungover and had another drink.  
“You officially have a much worse job than I have ever had,” he relented, “and I have had some shit-ass jobs in my time.”  
“Well I guess it’s up to you how bad it’s going to be, isn’t it?” she mused.

Alex struggled to get it through at first, but eventually managed to get the rosary through one of the air holes in Jesse’s cell.  
“Thanks,” he offered Alex a smile as he took it back to the bed.  
“As long as like…” Alex looked like he wasn’t sure what to say, “you’re not gonna use it to escape or anything, right? Because I don’t know what they’ll do to me if you do.”  
“I told you I wouldn’t let anything happen to you,” Jesse insisted as he wound it around his fist and took a seat, “and I meant it. But no, I don’t plan to.”  
Alex breathed a sigh of relief, still very much doubting Jesse’s ability to keep that promise.  
“Heard anything from Damien yet?” Jesse changed the subject.  
“No,” Alex admitted, looking up as the guard made a move toward him.  
“Mr Bell, it’s late,” he looked tired himself.  
“I know, I’m sorry,” Alex’s brow furrowed.  
“Go,” Jesse insisted, “go see Carey. You’ll see me in the morning.”  
Alex nodded, before slowly moving out.  
“Goodnight,” he said softly before fleeing the cells.  
Jesse watched him go before locking eyes with the guard and then looking down at his rosary. As the guard left the cells and the lights went out, he softly began to pray.

Damien jumped as the door opened, looking up to see Morris barging in.  
“What is going on in here?” he was frowning, making Damien stand from his seat, “I don’t believe I authorised any chemical interrogation for Keandre Moreau.”  
“You didn’t have to,” Damien assured, tucking his clipboard under his arm before looking down at where the Frenchman had fallen asleep, “besides, it was worthless. It was all in French.”  
“What were you asking?” Morris demanded.  
“Like I said,” Damien pushed past him in order to leave the room, “it doesn’t matter.”  
He stormed into the corridor, pausing only to make sure that Morris didn’t follow him. When he felt like he was in the all clear he begrudgingly headed back for the cells. He checked his watch as he approached the guard, figuring Alex would be back at his room by now.  
“Damien?” the guard was surprised to see him, “it’s late.”  
“I know it is,” he sighed, “I need to talk to C5.”  
“You know between you and Mr Bell I’m surprised I still even have a job here,” the guard couldn’t help but tease as he turned to unbolt the door.  
Damien ignored him, waiting impatiently. Once the door was opened he stepped through without a word. Jesse had already been dozing off and he pushed himself up on the bed again as the lights came on.  
“What is it?” he rubbed his eyes tiredly.  
He didn’t think he was actually tired, it was moreso lethargy from being stuck in the cell all day and night with nothing to do.  
Damien walked up to the cell door and paused. He waited until Jesse’s eyes had adjusted to the light before sighing dramatically.  
“I feel like we got off on the wrong foot,” he seemed to reason.  
“Oh do you?” Jesse’s brow rose.  
“Yes…” he began to pace a little, “and in reality, we are all in this together. You, me, Alex… the others. We’re all a part of the same project. DIGER wants the same thing from all of us.”  
“And what’s that?” Jesse sighed to himself, wondering if this was really worth being awake for.  
“Answers,” Damien frowned, “confirmation that the experiment either succeeded or failed. We do already know it was a failure, of course, but we didn’t know for sure until we found you again. Since the original project in 1982 went so haywire, they were guessing when they decided to start again on the next ‘batch’.”  
“Is this going somewhere or do you just need someone to talk to?” Jesse’s eyes narrowed.  
“This was an American experiment,” Damien went on, ignoring him, “not just a Texan one, or a Nevada one, but American. Our plans were in constant review at the Pentagon, for reasons I’m sure you’re familiar with.”  
Jesse leant forward a little as Damien began to speak his language.  
“Those plans were never forwarded on to other diplomats. It was never a discussion that crossed oceans. So how the Russians found out in the first place is a mystery to us. Let alone how they chose to focus on our specific case.”  
“Are you asking if I had anything to do with it?” Jesse was confused.  
“Of course not,” Damien scoffed, “I’m asking for your help with this.”  
“You want my help?” Jesse’s brow rose, “what would possibly make you think I would help the likes of you, especially after what happened in Nevada?”  
“Because this is about more than just us, isn’t it?” Damien’s eyes narrowed, “ this is about Carey, it’s about Mark, Alex, Keandre… and of course Taylor too. I know you have a rapport with them.”  
Jesse fell silent at that. It wasn’t that he was conceding defeat – he was trying to decide if it were actually true.  
“Next question. _How_ could I possibly help?” he distracted himself.  
“If we have some kind of mole working at DIGER, I need to know how to flush it out,” Damien hugged the clipboard, “and if they’re military or have some kind of combat background, that’s something you’d know how to deal with better than we would.”  
Jesse paused, but nodded.  
“They’ve infiltrated this base before. Without setting off any security,” Damien admitted, “they took me from my bed while I was _sleeping_. None of us here are safe unless we address this issue and face it head on. I’d rather do it now than wait for them to attack again.”  
“What did Keandre tell you?” Jesse frowned.  
“Nothing,” Damien diverted his eyes, “well he was babbling. Something about recruitment. The rest was in French so I have to review it later.”  
“Recruitment,” Jesse repeated softly, the word seeming to confirm his earlier judgement.  
“The man I saw in Russia told me he used to be an interrogator on the front lines at Stalingrad,” Damien frowned as he remembered, “why would someone like that be involved? What do they _want_ with us?”  
Something in Jesse’s eyes changed. He stood from the bed and slowly made his way to the door. Damien avoided eye contact knowing already that he’d gone overboard.  
“Who did you meet from Stalingrad, Damien?” his voice was low.  
“I don’t remember his name,” Damien admitted with a frown.  
“And what did he get out of you?” Jesse’s head tilted.  
Damien’s eyes went to the door, shuddering internally as he remembered the shivers.  
“Nothing they wouldn’t have worked out eventually,” he finally looked Jesse in the eye again, “the differences between the C series clones.”  
“We already know they wanted us to be more alike, it’s why they operated on Mark’s scar,” Jesse pointed out, “but despite other flaws they weren’t giving up, were they? When were you interrogated?”  
Damien’s face flushed red and he could feel his adrenaline starting to spike.  
“How long were they holding us after they knew?” Jesse pressed, “it’s important.”  
“Two months,” he relented.  
“So they obviously thought they could fix whatever was wrong with us,” Jesse’s brow rose, “or they would have abandoned the project altogether. They would have disposed of us.”  
“That means they’re coming back for us, right?” Damien resisted the urge to bite his fingernails.  
“Probably,” Jesse turned to go back to the bed suddenly.  
“If they do they’re going to find five of us right here,” Damien frowned, “and it’s not like the others are going to be hard to track down. Why aren’t you worried about this?”  
“Because worrying isn’t going to do anything,” Jesse insisted as he took a seat, “you’re just going to have to be patient. Wait until I have this meeting with Homeland Security. We’ll figure it out then.”  
“Screw that,” Damien scowled, “what if they come tomorrow?! We need to be prepared! We need to know what we’re in for!”  
Jesse just sighed.  
“I don’t want to go back to Russia,” he said through his teeth, “I don’t want to be a pawn in whatever game they want to play. I’d imagine you wouldn’t either.”  
“But you’re happy for me to be yours instead,” Jesse couldn’t help but scorn.  
“For the greater good,” Damien’s scowl deepened, “to save us!”  
He paused to see if Jesse would say anything to that before rolling his eyes and turning to head for the door.  
“Maybe we’ll see how you go with another dose of truth. It has to work the second time around,” he put his hand on the door.  
“There’s a reason why it didn't,” Jesse called over his shoulder.  
“Everyone breaks eventually,” Damien looked back, “we just have to find your pressure point. And we will. Whether you want us to or not.”  
“Don’t force me to prove to you that I’m only here because I want to be,” Jesse shook his head, “that’s not something you want me to do.”  
Damien frowned at his words, before scoffing and leaving the cells. He ignored the guard as he made his way back to his personal quarters.


	5. Chapter 5

Damien saw Alex sitting at the computer desk when he made it to the room, but ignored him as he closed the door and removed his coat. Alex watched him for a moment wondering if he already knew.  
“Carey’s awake,” he decided to bite the bullet.  
Damien froze before locking eyes with him. He looked like he was about to bolt out of the room again.  
“He has amnesia,” Alex quickly added.  
“How much?” Damien frowned.  
“He didn’t know who I was,” Alex was sullen, “he probably won’t know who you are either.”  
Damien paused, before grimacing to himself.  
“Then he’s useless to us,” he muttered, walking past and into the bathroom.  
Alex’s brow furrowed at that, wondering what he meant. He sighed when he heard the shower starting and decided to get himself ready for bed instead of worrying about it. If he didn’t get an answer he’d talk to Jesse about it in the morning.

Taylor was frowning as he concentrated. It was early in the morning – far too early to go in to 3CG yet – so he’d commandeered a corner of his favorite Starbucks and had his laptop ready to catch up on work.  
It almost felt normal again. He was getting back into the rhythm of what he used to do before. Before he’d been taken, and before the clones had come into their lives. In moments like these where he was engrossed in his work he was even able to forget for a moment. It encouraged him not to stop and to only work harder, because the second he took a breather he’d remember how he didn’t feel safe anymore. How there was some kind of foreign object still under the skin at the back of his neck. How scared he was every time he dropped the kids off at school now.  
So he worked and he worked hard. From the moment he woke up until he came home at night. Isaac and Zac didn’t share quite the same work ethic, thus why his mornings were now being spent either alone or at home doing chores. Today was a Starbucks kind of day.  
The only thing to distract him this morning aside from his coffee arriving was the moment a stranger suddenly sat down at his table. Taylor jolted at first, still very on edge.  
“You didn’t call,” the rough-looking bearded man seemed concerned.  
“I’m sorry?” Taylor’s brow rose, not wanting to offend him.  
He didn’t look like the kind of person he wanted to upset.  
“You leave me this cryptic message and just expect me to find you in the middle of bumfuck nowhere?” he was incredulous, “why are you even in Tulsa? Why here?”  
Taylor’s eyes darted around the space, trying to work out if he’d meant to meet someone else. He flinched again when the man leant forward.  
“I wasn’t followed,” he insisted.  
“I wasn’t suggesting-“ Taylor automatically responded, before stopping himself as he realised.  
He chewed on his bottom lip for a moment and cast his view out the window.  
“What’s wrong with you?” the stranger demanded with a frown.  
Taylor closed his laptop with a sigh and leant back in his chair.  
“I’m not Jesse,” he said flatly, “and he’s not here.”  
“You’re not Jesse,” the man repeated with a blank stare.  
“No I’m not,” Taylor shrugged.  
“Then what are you, his twin? Is that why he was here? Where is he?”  
“He’s in Dallas,” Taylor diverted his eyes again, “he’s been detained by a genetic research lab. He’s been there a while now.”  
“Detained,” he repeated, still staring.  
“Yes.”  
“Do you know the actual title of the place where he is detained?”  
“DIGER. The Dallas Institute for Genetic Engineering and Research,” Taylor frowned, unsure of why he was asking.  
“Thanks,” the man immediately stood and headed for the door.  
Taylor watched him go, but he didn’t bother looking back. He made his way to an old truck outside that reminded Taylor of Jesse’s and took off down the street at high speed.  
With a groan he leant his head on his laptop. He wasn’t even sure what to do with what had just happened. Who did he tell? Anyone?  
Needing an immediate distraction, he quickly opened the laptop again and tried to get back to work.

Keandre was still feeling the effects of the drug the following morning when he made it back to the cells. Morris had opted to leave him in the room for the night, knowing he’d already been at the point where he didn’t know where he was anyway. Jesse watched as the handlers carefully led him back into his cell and made sure he was safely on the bed before once again leaving the guard on his own.  
“Keandre?” Jesse stood and made his way to his door, “are you okay?”  
There was no response, despite Keandre obviously being awake. Jesse hoped it was because of the drugs and not the trauma.  
With a sigh he hit the heel of his hand against the door before turning to go back to the bed.

Carey and Emma both looked up as the door to his room opened. He’d just been given breakfast and Emma had helped him to finish it. It was still difficult one-handed despite his legs having been lowered a few days earlier.  
“Good morning Mr and Mrs Miller,” Morris offered them a smile, closing the door behind himself, “I wonder if I could have a word?”  
“Is something wrong?” Emma asked as Carey eyed the doctor suspiciously.  
“Of course not,” Morris assured, “but while we are completely devoted to nursing Carey back to full health, we are also running a business here. One that he is very much a part of.”  
“What does that mean?” Carey frowned.  
“I’m alluding to the research our division does,” Morris amended, “and more specifically the clone research, and more specifically… on your group of clones.”  
He paused for dramatic effect, neither Carey or Emma interrupting.  
“We’d like to continue said research as soon as you are able to contribute,” he went on, “there are of course things we can do now, but others will have to wait until you can walk.”  
“What kind of things?” Carey asked.  
“Comparative testing,” Morris got a sense of déjà vu, “since you can’t remember, we’ve been gathering data from your kin. We’d like to add yours into the mix. We have already taken samples for the biological side, and now we need to test for more nature-versus-nurture variants.”  
“What does that mean? That didn’t answer the question,” Carey shot Emma a worried glance.  
“Nothing too strenuous,” Morris tried to reassure, “we’ll start by conducting a psychological evaluation and then move on to some visual and audible tests.”  
“That doesn’t sound too hard,” Emma shrugged, massaging his hand with her thumb.  
“Mrs Miller will of course have to part ways with you for this, but if it helps I do plan to call your brother in for them as well. It could be handy for us to have the twins being compared at the same time,” Morris smiled.  
Emma tensed at the mention of Mark.  
“What?” Carey noticed right away.  
“Nothing,” she blew off instantly.  
“We have time,” Morris assured, “but the sooner we get started, the sooner it’s over and done with and you can be on your way back to LA.”  
“Oh,” Emma’s eyes shot to her husband, “…we have a new house.”  
“What?” his brow furrowed, “what happened to the apartment?”  
“I’ll leave you to it,” Morris gave them a nod, “and I’ll keep in touch regarding my contact with Marcus.”  
They both watched him leave in silence before Emma muttered under her breath, “good luck with that.”  
“What happened to the apartment?” Carey repeated, obviously worried.  
“Nothing, we just upgraded,” she insisted, “but to tell you how that happened… I have to tell you what happened to Colin, and you’re not going to like it.”

Damien’s arm flew out from under the sheets, waving erratically as his hand tried to find the source of the incessant beeping.  
“What is that?” it had woken Alex up too, and he couldn’t see well enough to tell.  
“Pager,” Damien had to clear his throat, finally getting a hold of it and shutting it off.  
He struggled to open his eyes enough to see what it said. With a groan he threw the covers off and sat up in bed.  
“Something wrong?” Alex heard his movement, not bothering to open his eyes again.  
“Maybe,” Damien admitted, rubbing at his eyes, “I’ll be right back.”  
He found his slippers and bathrobe before heading for the door. He didn’t look back at Alex before slipping outside.  
He didn’t meet anyone in the corridor as he made his way down toward the nearest phone. Once there he quickly dialled an inside line, leaning back against the wall as he struggled to wake up.  
“Damien?”  
“Yeah,” he cleared his throat again.  
“Just thought you should know. The G-series clones are disappearing.”  
“What do you mean, disappearing?” he frowned, confused.  
“I mean like you guys were. One by one.”  
Damien scratched his forehead with his thumbnail as he took a moment to digest what he was being told.  
“They’re being taken?” he guessed.  
“They must be. Starting from a few days-“  
“Where’s 8?” Damien cut him off.  
“8’s fine, he’s still at home. But 1 through 6 are gone, 7 and 8 haven’t been touched, 9 went yesterday, and 10 of course had that accident a few weeks back and should still be in hospital in Arkansas.”  
“Double check the ones we still have and trace where the others are going,” Damien ordered.  
“Already working on it. They seem to be converging on a meeting place somewhere on the East coast. Much like you guys did.”  
“And there’s been no contact with any of them?”  
“None of the ones that have gone off the grid.”  
“See if you can put in for a transfer for 10 and get him back here. Find 7 and tell him to head to Dallas. I’ll deal with 8.”  
“Are you sure?”  
“Yes. Just get on it before we lose any more of them.”  
“I’ll start right away Sir.”  
Damien hung up the phone and chewed on his bottom lip. He knew Morris would have already been notified. He waited a few seconds before lifting the receiver again and dialling for an outside line.  
“Yello?”  
“Joey? It’s Damien.”  
“Do you have any idea what time it is? What if I’d been in bed still?”  
“What, you don’t still have hockey practise on Saturday mornings?” Damien scoffed.  
“Fine, fine. You got me. But we’re about to head out the door so… what can I do for you?”  
“Something’s wrong,” Damien jumped right in, “we need you back in Dallas right away.”  
“Right away as in…?”  
“Now. Drop everything.”  
“Okay, something wrong as in…?”  
“The G series are being abducted one by one and you’re one of only three that’s left,” Damien warned.  
There was silence on the other end for a moment.  
“Joey? Did you hear me?!”  
“Yeah I heard you. But I still have hockey, and how am I supposed to tell Mom without it sounding like some kind of psycho conspiracy?”  
“I know your mother, tell her to call us if she doesn’t believe you.”  
“Right. But… I still get to play hockey today, right?”  
“I wouldn’t if I were you,” Damien warned again, “if these are the same guys I dealt with recently, you do _not_ want to risk it. For anything. You need to get back here.”  
“I’ll try but…” he huffed a sigh, “like I said, I’ll see what I can do.”  
“Call me when you’re on your way,” Damien insisted, “and call me every time you stop. I want you here safe.”  
“Yeah, yeah.”  
Damien heard him end the call and waited a moment later to hang up himself. He grit his teeth and headed back down the hall to fetch Alex for breakfast.


	6. Chapter 6

“Feeling any better today?” Janine asked, sitting up on the bed.  
“I’m not sure I remember what ‘better’ is,” Mark admitted, staring at the ceiling from where he lay next to her.  
“Pitiful,” she looked down at him, “just pitiful.”  
“Fuck you.”  
“What, again already?” she mused, standing up from the bed, “I’ll make us some breakfast. We’ve got a big day ahead.”  
“Something with meat this time!” Mark called after her as she disappeared.  
He grunted and covered his eyes before hearing his cell phone vibrating from the bedside table. Vainly hoping that it would be Emma, he frowned when he recognised it for a different reason.  
“Hello?” he asked, eyes back to searching the ceiling.  
“Marcus Miller?”  
He instantly gulped at his recognition of the voice.  
“What do you want?” he demanded.  
“Your brother is doing fine. I noticed there haven’t been any calls either in or out from Chicago,” Morris seemed to tease, “but as a result of his progress we’d like to begin some standard tests. Ones we have already conducted on the Hanson brothers. Now, it’s the Millers’ turn.”  
“So… what?” Mark frowned.  
“So we’ll need you to come in to Dallas for the tests,” Morris spoke purposefully, “as soon as possible would be best.”  
“I can’t leave Chicago,” Mark’s eyes went to the doorway, hearing Janine moving things in the kitchen still.  
“You’re going to have to at some point,” Morris spoke as if he were talking to a child, “it might as well be now.”  
“No I mean I _can’t_ leave, despite wanting to,” Mark lowered his voice.  
“I shouldn’t have to remind you what happens if this becomes… involuntary,” Morris sounded a little confused now, “we do know where you are, Mark. We’ve been there before.”  
“I know that,” Mark scorned, “but you’re not- you know what? Come and get me. Maybe you’ll help settle this once and for all.”  
“Settle what?”  
Mark’s eyes darted to the door as Janine appeared again and leant in the doorway.  
“How do you want your eggs?” she asked before spotting that he was on the phone, “…and who are you talking to?”  
“No one,” was his instant reply.  
Morris immediately picked up on his worried tone.  
“If you are in some kind of trouble, respond to this sentence in an obscure way,” he said calmly, “then you are free to end this call.”  
“No one?” Janine’s brow rose, and Mark was instantly torn.  
While the initial plan had been to pit them against each other, after seeing what Russo had done to Carey he wasn’t all that sure of what he wanted anymore. Who _was_ the lesser evil?  
“Mark?” Janine was getting suspicious of his pause.  
His mind was racing and he couldn’t decide quick enough.  
“Give me the phone,” Janine stepped closer and held out her hand.  
“No, that’s fine,” Mark quickly said into it, realising very suddenly that he’d rather be at the lab than spend another day in this apartment, “just tell Dad I’ll call him tomorrow. Bye Carol.”  
He ended the call and dropped the phone onto the bed beside him, avoiding Janine’s gaze.  
“It was your father’s home?” she was frowning, “why didn’t you just say so?”  
“I don’t know,” Mark was feeling his skin crawl, wondering if he’d done the right thing, “there was a mix up with his medication but, he should be okay. They just had to let me know.”  
He glanced up to see her standing with her arms folded.  
“It just threw me, that’s all,” he frowned.  
“Get up,” she insisted, “have a shower. I’ll make some food and we can start getting ready for the hearing.”  
Mark watched her leave before picking up the phone again. He wondered what Morris had in mind, and if it could possibly work. He might have just made things worse.  
At least with Carey and Emma both at the lab he hoped they were safe enough.  
With a sigh he set the phone aside again and pulled himself from the bed. Janine was right – they had a long day ahead.

“That was great,” Isaac insisted, one hand on the intercom, “we don’t need to do that again.”  
“You don’t want to just to be sure?” Taylor asked, sitting beside him.  
“He’s done it thirty times, I’m sure,” Isaac insisted, “and that wasn’t even the best take. The best one was about ten ago.”  
“Should we break for lunch?!” Zac called from the kit in the studio.  
“Did anyone bring food?” Isaac’s brow rose.  
“I was going to, but I got distracted,” Taylor pulled a face, not having mentioned his run-in with Jesse’s friend, “I could just duck next door if we want.”  
“No, I think we need a real break,” Isaac wrote down some notes as Zac left the kit to come back to the control room.  
“Back in an hour?” he assumed.  
“Yep,” Isaac agreed just as Taylor’s cell phone went off.  
He rolled his eyes and dug for it in his back pocket. When he saw the number he frowned.  
“What is it?” Zac asked, having waited to check.  
“It’s a Dallas number,” Taylor’s eyes wandered.  
“It could be Emma checking on Ellie,” Zac suggested.  
“No, she’s been calling Nat directly. I don’t think she has my number.”  
“Carey had it,” Isaac pointed out.  
Taylor quickly answered before it could ring out.  
“Hello?”  
“Taylor Hanson?”  
Taylor’s back straightened.  
“Dr Morris,” he returned, making Isaac sit up and pay attention.  
“Do you have a moment to talk? I have some business to discuss with you.”  
“Sure,” Taylor’s eyes went between his brothers, but he was frozen on the spot.  
“Great. We’re going to need you to come back to Dallas. As you’re probably aware our tests were cut short quite dramatically last time you were here, and we will need to complete those as soon as possible.”  
“Dramatic is one word for it,” Taylor felt his face going red, “I seem to recall your men pointing guns in our faces.”  
“A means to an end,” Morris assured.  
“Yeah,” Taylor scoffed, “and why do you think I’d even consider coming back if I don’t have Jesse’s backup anymore? Why would either of us risk that?”  
“Because it was a part of your contract,” Morris kept his tone steady, “and of our verbal agreement. Need I remind you that you agreed to come in for further testing when needed, in return for your otherwise seclusion?”  
Taylor’s free hand went to his head, feeling like the back of his neck was on fire. He ran his fingers through his hair as his mind raced for another excuse.  
“What do you want? Just the visual test?” he asked, making Isaac immediately shake his head and make the cut-throat signal.  
“That, some audible tests, and some scans you were yet to have done. With everyone bar yourself and Marcus under the one roof we are looking to ‘collect the set’, so to say.”  
“He’s not mentioning you at all,” Taylor covered the phone and lowered his voice, wondering why Isaac was reacting so badly.  
“You do _not_ want to go for that visual test,” Isaac kept his voice low too, “I still have nightmares from that.”  
“If I don’t he’s going to come after me and we know how that ends,” Taylor said between his teeth, “what’s worse?”  
Isaac winced, honestly not sure.  
“What is it?” Zac asked from the doorway, reminding his elder brothers that he was in fact still there.  
“It’s like these flashes of images they show you just to see how you react. It’s hypnotising at first and then they hit you with gore or something demonic,” Isaac quickly explained, “and you’re in the dark and you can’t hear anything. I don’t know why it’s a thing.”  
“Did you do the audio test too?” Taylor was frowning, trying to ignore the distant sound of Morris calling him back to the phone.  
“That’s fine, that’s like a beep test,” Isaac shrugged off.  
“So it could be worse,” Taylor tried to reason, “considering the alternative…”  
“Sounds like,” Zac hated to agree with him.  
“But like you said, you have no backup,” Isaac cautioned, “what if they decide to keep you again?”  
“They only did it last time because they wanted Jesse,” Taylor reasoned, “and if this is the last thing they want, they have no reason to hold us. Or me.”  
“You realise you’re defending them right now,” Isaac’s brow rose.  
“Yeah… and I’ve heard the ‘no reason to hold us’ thing before,” Zac cautioned.  
“What am I supposed to do?” Taylor had been trying not to panic but it was getting close now, “if I don’t go to them they’re going to come after us! But Jesse’s there already, that has to count for something right?”  
“If it makes you feel better, sure,” Isaac shrugged.  
“How soon?” Taylor demanded into the phone.  
“As soon as possible. Marcus should be here within a couple of days.”  
“You want me there at the same time? Or after?” Taylor frowned, “this isn’t much notice.”  
“I am sorry for that,” Morris apologised, “but this has depended on Carey’s progress and he has been healing well.”  
“Can it wait longer?” Taylor asked hopefully, “I mean I’m just starting to get my life back on track from the last time you guys cannonballed it. I have meetings to go to and obligations to fill.”  
“And the sooner we start, the sooner you can get on with your life,” Morris reiterated, “I’m sure your brothers can cover you for the few days it will take.”  
“Why days?” Taylor’s frown deepened, “isn’t it just two tests and some scans?”  
“Some elaborate scans, sorry I should have emphasized. You’ll need x-rays, an MRI, a cat scan and possibly a sleep audit… we have yet to decide on that one.”  
Taylor rubbed his face, looking between his brothers again. Their blank looks weren’t helping.  
“What kind of reassurance do I get that this will all go away when we’re done?” he was more hopeful than anything at this point, “how do I know that this is it?”  
“Well it won’t be it, not entirely. But it should sate us for a couple of years at least,” Morris considered, “of course by then we’ll be more interested in young Jordan and Penelope’s progress. I’m sorry - Ezra and Penelope. Unless of course your parents suddenly reappear in the picture.”  
“I don’t see that happening,” Taylor admitted.  
“Neither do we.”  
Taylor closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He was telling himself over and over that the other clones would be there, and if he did actually need backup maybe they could be it.  
“I’ll see what I can do,” he eventually promised, “but I can’t leave Tulsa before Tuesday.”  
“We’ll expect you between Tuesday and Wednesday. See you soon, Taylor.”  
Taylor grimaced as the call ended and he dropped the phone onto the nearby keyboard, immediately regretting everything.

Damien had met a reluctant Alex for lunch in the cafeteria, where he was keeping a careful eye on his pager. Alex wanted to ask what was up but he was sure if it was anything to do with he or the others, Damien would have to tell him. Right?  
It went off soon after they started eating and a relieved look crossed Damien’s face.  
“Whatever’s going on is stressing you out,” Alex observed, “are you okay?”  
“Yeah,” Damien felt awkward at Alex noticing already as he slid it back into his coat pocket, “just worried about someone is all.”  
“That’s a first,” Alex muttered under his breath.  
Damien watched him eat for a moment before getting back to his own food.  
“He’s the closest thing I ever had to a brother. I haven’t seen him in years,” he admitted, out of character, “he might be in trouble.”  
“What kind of trouble?” Alex was going to milk this for all he was worth.  
“The same kind we were,” the worry had returned to Damien’s face, “the kind involving Russians.”


	7. Chapter 7

“So wait, your friend is a clone?” Alex frowned, ignoring a shadow behind him, “is he one of us?”  
“Not exactly,” Damien was looking up.  
“Boys,” Morris greeted them casually, “Damien… I’ve been calling.”  
“I know,” he got back to his food without further thought.  
“You haven’t responded.”  
“I know.”  
Alex had already felt uneasy, despite gradually getting used to his surroundings, but the doctor’s presence always put him more on edge.  
“I thought you’d like to know that Marcus Miller will be joining us soon,” Morris went on anyway, “we plan to acquire him in the next twenty-four hours. And with any luck, Taylor Hanson will shortly join us of his own accord.”  
“Why?” Damien frowned, looking up.  
“Why do you think?” Morris frowned, “and we weren’t quite done with Taylor, as you know.”  
“But _now_? You don’t think we have enough to worry about?”  
“So you were told about the G series,” Morris observed.  
“Of course I was,” Damien scorned, “why wouldn’t I be? I’ve already ordered the remaining subjects back onto base.”  
“Wise,” Morris nodded, “so don’t you think it’s a good idea to collect the C series at the same time? In case they decide they weren’t done with them either?”  
Damien rolled his eyes, loading his fork again.  
“Guess you have that covered already,” he muttered before filling his mouth.  
“I do,” Morris smiled before turning to Alex again, “good day Alexander.”  
Alex watched him leave the area, turning back with a frown as Damien kept his eyes down.  
“So we’re all going to be here again?” he wanted to confirm.  
“That’s what he said,” Damien wasn’t interested.  
Alex hesitated, his fingers tapping anxiously on the table beside his plate.  
“You know I never had a brother either. Or a sister for that matter,” his brow furrowed, “but I’ve tried to think of these guys as mine going back… you know, before Colin was hurt. If you could form that kind of bond with another clone, why not with our group?”  
“Because he’s different,” Damien frowned, “and because I’ve known him practically since he was born. I don’t know the rest of you and I certainly don’t trust you.”  
He set his fork down and leant back a little.  
“Shouldn’t we be the ones not trusting you?” Alex suggested nervously, wondering already if this was going to get him locked up.  
“Why?” Damien frowned, confused.  
“Because you don’t care about us,” Alex shrugged, “you only care about the job, and results, and what the labs want from us.”  
“There’s nothing wrong with enjoying your work,” Damien wasn’t getting any clarity.  
“But you’ve taken humanity out of the equation,” Alex tried to reason, “we’re nothing but lab rats to you.”  
“That’s not true,” Damien’s frown deepened, “maybe I don’t show it, but I care.”  
“Why would you care? You’ve spent your whole life inside this glass box not caring.”  
“I find that very short-sighted of you,” Damien had to pause, “…the pun not intended.”  
“I only have my time here to go from,” Alex shrugged, “the way you’ve acted since we’ve been back, the way you treat the others… you’re not an equal, you’re an authority. I don’t see that changing.”  
“You want to leave?” Damien’s brow rose, “because I’m not stopping you.”  
“That’s not what I’m saying,” Alex tried to diffuse, “I’m just saying that we’ve all led very different lives, and for someone who grew up like you did… it might be hard to put yourself in someone else’s shoes. That’s all.”  
“Whatever,” Damien pushed his plate aside and stood from the table, “I have better things to do than take therapy from someone barely holding it together as it is.”  
He left without another word, leaving Alex at the table speechless. He quickly looked around to see if anyone had overheard what he’d said but no one seemed to be paying attention.  
He looked down at what was left on his plate, but he suddenly didn’t feel like eating it anymore.

Mark tensed when he felt her hand in the small of his back as he finished loading the dishwasher.  
“We should get to bed,” she insisted, “you’ll want to study in the morning.”  
“My brain is fried, I can’t ‘study’ any more right now,” he mumbled, closing the door and standing up to turn around.  
“You’ll be fine,” she insisted, rubbing his arm softly, “you’ve done well so far. I have faith.”  
“Then it’s very misplaced,” he insisted, “I can’t keep this up forever.”  
“You’re stronger than you think you are,” she placed a finger gently on his chest and followed it with her eyes as she traced a pattern there, “maybe I can help with that?”  
Mark was debating taking her up on the offer when they heard the chime from the elevator go off. They both looked up toward it, and Mark felt his heart immediately start to race.  
“Are you expecting someone?” Janine frowned.  
“You know I’m not, I haven’t talked to anyone,” Mark frowned in return.  
She quickly reached into a drawer where she had a hidden gun, arming it before looking over her shoulder.  
“Go into the bedroom,” she ordered.  
He knew better than to argue, so did as he was told. He didn’t look back as he heard the doors opening.  
The tone of her voice told him that it wasn’t anyone she knew. So he chose to wait in the doorway. A lot of yelling and at least two gunshots later, he heard footsteps approaching that obviously did not belong to Janine. He stepped out into the walkway to see two men in surgical masks armed with tranquiliser guns. They paused when they saw him raise his hands in surrender.  
“Morris sent you?” he looked between them.  
They shot each other a glance before lowering their weapons. One of them pulled his mask down and Mark was sure he recognised him.  
“You’re coming quietly?” he guessed.  
“Yeah. I mean if that’s an option,” Mark shrugged.  
“Then let’s go,” the other stood aside, still keeping the gun in his hand.  
“Let me just grab my cell in case Morris calls,” Mark thumbed over his shoulder before disappearing into the bedroom again.  
He grabbed it from the dresser and returned to the hall. They both looked surprised that they hadn’t had to follow him. Without a word he walked past them and headed for the elevator by himself. Janine’s unconscious form lay on the tiled kitchen floor, but aside from the dart protruding from her neck she looked otherwise unharmed.  
He hit the button on the elevator before turning to check that they were still behind him. It opened quickly because it hadn’t moved yet, and he stepped inside with them following closely behind. Not even able to text Carey to tell him he slid the phone into his pocket and waited for the doors to close.

Carey watched carefully as the bandages on his right hand were slowly unwrapped. Emma was watching at first, but eventually had to divert her eyes.  
“We just need to let it air a little,” the female doctor tried to be reassuring, “but it will probably be a while yet before the stitches can come out.”  
Carey just nodded, his eyes still locked. He didn’t know what he was expecting. He just expected… different.  
As it got to the final stages he could tell how angrily red his hand was, and he could start to move the plasters on the other fingers. When it finally came free he had to gulp at the sight. The surgeons had taken away his last knuckle so there wouldn’t be a corner to bump on anything, so the sight of his three-fingered hand was… almost cartoonish. He didn’t know how to react.  
“Care?” Emma put a hand on his other arm.  
“I’m okay,” he insisted, not sure if he actually was.  
“It looks good,” the doctor insisted, “there’s no sign of infection. But we’ll keep up with the prescribed medication just in case.”  
She set the hand gently back onto the bed before collecting the old bandages and binning them. Carey hesitated before moving it to sit on his stomach.  
“It does look good,” Emma leant forward so she could see it, “better than I was expecting, anyway.”  
“Considering I don’t remember what happened, I was expecting to wake up with a whole hand,” Carey muttered.  
“I’m not sure if remembering would be such a good thing,” Emma was cautious, “I haven’t slept a full night since it happened. I thought you were dead.”  
Carey swallowed hard before using his thumb to scratch his cheek.  
“I’ll be back soon and we’ll take a look at the wounds up top,” the doctor gave him a smile, indicating his head.  
She left the room with the rubbish and Carey watched her go through the window.  
“I need to get out of this bed,” he insisted once she was gone.  
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Emma countered.  
“I have to eventually,” Carey frowned, looking up at where his leg plasters were suspended, “I’m not spending the whole six weeks laying down. My back already hurts. I want to pee in an actual toilet.”  
“There’s a difference between being able to and just being restless,” Emma scorned, “don’t do something stupid and end up having to spend even more time here. We need to get back to Ellie.”  
“Right…” Carey had already forgotten about her again.  
It just seemed weird that he’d have a kid he couldn’t remember meeting. Couldn’t remember _conceiving_. He couldn’t remember Emma ever being pregnant, and despite her offer to show him photos she hadn’t been able to sneak her cell phone in yet.  
“Speaking of, I need to go and call Natalie again,” Emma stood from her chair, “you’ll still be here when I get back, right?”  
“I don’t think I’m going anywhere,” he indicated the suspension frame, “I can’t reach on my own.”  
“Good. Stay trapped.”  
She leant over to give him a kiss.  
“I should be back in time to see what kind of cool scars you’ll have on your head,” she mused as she stepped away.  
“Great,” he sighed in return, watching her leave just as he had the doctor.  
He looked up at the frame again before collapsing back onto his pillow.

Mark was hugging himself as he made his way down the corridor. He’d already been showered and changed and had a medical bracelet put on his wrist, and he felt practically naked as he followed the handlers barefoot toward the cells. Not having been to the Dallas labs before he was taking a careful look around, but considering he knew that Jesse was still here somewhere he knew in the back of his mind that there was no real point.  
He eyed the portly guard as he unlocked the door and stood aside for the handlers to enter. Inside he found cells that he knew at some point of his life he would have been convinced had been in an alien spaceship.  
Jesse had jumped to his feet as soon as he’d entered. Keandre stayed on his bed.  
“Mark?” Jesse instantly recognised him, “what’s going on?”  
“Relax,” Mark insisted as he was led to the next cell along, “I’m here because I want to be.”  
Jesse frowned at that, confused. Mark of all people?  
“Because of Carey?” he guessed as the cell was locked and Mark took a seat on the bed.  
“Partly,” he replied, his eyes going to the handlers.  
He watched after them as they left, not wanting to say anything else until they were gone.  
“I’m in trouble,” he admitted, avoiding eye contact with Jesse.  
“What kind of trouble?” Jesse was staring him down.  
“Chicago mob trouble,” Mark could feel his face going red, “this was the only way I could think of to get out.”  
Jesse folded his arms, a lot of Alex’s stories beginning to make sense.  
“And you think this is going to stop them getting to you?” his brow rose.  
“I don’t know,” Mark admitted, “but like I said… all I could think of.”


	8. Chapter 8

“This is the weirdest sense of déjà vu,” Zac shook his head, “I know I haven’t really said anything about this but now that I’ve actually spent time with some of them… this is _weird_.”  
“So meeting them makes it weird being around me?” Taylor’s brow rose from the passenger seat.  
“No I just mean that it’s weird that last time I did this, Kea was sitting there.”  
Taylor turned to look out the window at the car yards flying by.  
“And you know he never came back.”  
“I know,” Taylor insisted, “you don’t have to make me feel any worse.”  
“You are very different people though. Just in case you were worried.”  
“I wasn’t.”  
An awkward silence followed where both brothers kept their eyes on the road. Zac chewed on his lip as he struggled to find something else to say.  
“What did you even talk about?” Taylor broke the silence first.  
“Nothing,” Zac shrugged, “he wasn’t a big talker.”  
More silence. Zac debated whether Taylor just didn’t want to talk, but ended up not being able to contain himself again.  
“What do we do if you don’t come back?” he forced out, “I mean is there anything we _can_ do?”  
“Go to the cops,” Taylor said absently.  
“What?”  
“Go to the cops,” Taylor repeated, shooting him a glance, “when they questioned me about Jesse they didn’t know anything. We don’t know how much pull the labs actually have. Maybe they can do something.”  
“Worth a try I guess,” Zac frowned.  
He’d just assumed along with everyone else that the police would be in on the whole conspiracy.  
“It’s all I can think of,” Taylor shrugged, “Natalie and Emma will keep in touch but we don’t know what’s going to happen until I’m there.”  
“Awesome,” Zac sighed, focusing on the road again.

Carey was expecting Emma when he saw a shape standing at his window. The blinds obstructed the view but he could tell it was a clone.  
“Hey!” he called out, making the man jump, “come in here! …Please?”  
Alex hesitated, not sure if he should or not. But he pulled himself together and forced himself to walk to the door.  
“You’re the one that was here when I woke up, right?” Carey sat himself up a little.  
“Yeah. Alex,” he put a hand to his chest, introducing himself again just to be sure.  
“Right. Come here, sit down,” Carey indicated Emma’s chair.  
Alex eyed it awkwardly, but did as asked. Carey’s eyes followed his hunched form as he moved toward it.  
“So how did we meet you?” Carey asked as he took a seat, “and have you met the others?”  
“Six of us were abducted and taken to a lab in Nevada,” Alex kept his eyes down, “that’s where we met.”  
“Six?” Carey’s eyes narrowed.  
From his tone Alex wasn’t sure if he knew already and was just egging him on for a reason to talk. He guessed it didn’t matter.  
“You, me, Jesse, Mark, Colin and Taylor,” Alex moved some hair out of his eyes.  
“Well I met all of those…” Carey considered, “where are you from? I don’t know if you know yet, but I was looking for everyone for a really long time. Years.”  
“Miami,” Alex shrugged, “I wouldn’t have been easy to find. I kept to myself once I was taken out of school.”  
“You were?” Carey’s brow rose, “why?”  
“Mom thought it was for the best. The other kids didn’t make life easy for me,” Alex was having trouble with the memories, and Carey noticed, “when Hanson went big they noticed the resemblance right away. I’m sure you can imagine.”  
“Sort of. Maybe in a different way. Did you know you were adopted?” Carey tried to change the subject a little.  
“Yeah, sure,” he shrugged, “Mom’s Greek. Or she _was_ Greek. It was obvious I wasn’t hers.”  
“So it was just you and your Mom?” Carey’s head tilted, watching closely.  
Alex nodded, chewing on his bottom lip.  
“What happened? If you don’t mind my asking.”  
“Um…” Alex cleared his throat, “we were all taken by the Russian military, a few months ago. They shot her when I was taken.”  
“Oh,” Carey was taken aback, “I’m sorry.”  
“Thanks,” Alex’s voice went quiet.  
“Was I there?”  
“No, we were on the run,” Alex shook his head, “we thought these guys were trying to kill me. We weren’t expecting…”  
He trailed off and hung his head. Carey watched him for a moment before looking toward the door to make sure Emma still wasn’t there.  
“You know when Mark and I lost our Mom… we never really got over it,” he said softly, “it was a long time ago, but it’s definitely something that stays with you. We were lucky we had our Dad, and he was lucky he had us. I don’t know where we’d be if it weren’t for him.”  
At the lack of response he got he checked the door again.  
“What I’m saying is, I know it’s a horrible circumstance and it’s something that you will eventually force yourself to live with, but support isn’t entirely elusive. If you feel like you don’t have anyone to turn to, maybe try us?”  
He shrugged when Alex looked up.  
“Maybe some of us have an idea of what it’s like,” he suggested, “and maybe we’ll just be an ear. But we’re here, either way.”  
“Thanks,” Alex whispered, for a moment contemplating how different this interaction was in comparison to the one with Damien.  
“Don’t ever think you’re overstepping,” Carey insisted, “we’re all in this together. Whatever happens.”  
“Good morning,” they looked up to see Emma had arrived, “am I interrupting something?”  
Carey waited until Alex shook his head.  
“No, we’re fine,” he offered a smile, “how’s Ellie?”  
“Good, I think,” Emma came in to lean against the bedframe, “Natalie says she’s fine. I guess she would know.”  
“I’ll leave you to it,” Alex stood from the seat nervously, knowing it was where Emma usually sat, “I have some things to do.”  
“Can I ask you something before you go?” Carey looked up.  
He waited for Alex’s pause, watching the door again in case someone walked past.  
“I noticed your pass,” he admitted, “I’m guessing that means you can walk around here whereas someone like Jesse can’t. Are we stuck here?”  
Emma bit her lip, unsure if she should come to Alex’s aid.  
“Like can we leave? Or are we prisoners here?” Carey was obviously worried.  
“I don’t know,” Alex admitted, his brow furrowing, “I’ve been here three months and I still don’t know.”  
He paused to make sure Carey wasn’t going to say anything else before he headed for the door.  
“Don’t be a stranger,” Carey called after him as Alex shot him a final glance on the way out.  
Emma waited until he was out of ear shot before making her way around the bed.  
“What was that about?” she asked.  
“Just trying to get to know him, and see if anything jogged my memory,” Carey was watching the window, “it didn’t work.”  
“I don’t know that they’re expecting the memories to come back,” Emma cautioned, “and like I said, I’m not sure you want them.”  
“It’s easy to say when there’s a clean slate,” Carey looked uncomfortable, “but it doesn’t stop me wondering what I’m missing.”

“Last time I stayed here more than five seconds security were on my ass so…” Zac hinted.  
Taylor still wasn’t moving, he was just staring out the window.  
“Tay?”  
He jumped and finally made eye contact. Zac frowned at the look on his face.  
“We could just go,” Zac insisted, “you don’t have to-“  
“No, I do,” Taylor undid the seatbelt, “just ah… if you haven’t heard from me in a week…”  
“Go to the cops. Got it,” Zac assured.  
“Yeah.”  
Taylor paused again before rubbing his face and opening the door.  
“Good luck!” Zac called after him.  
“Thanks,” Taylor winced as he closed it.  
He took a deep breath as he looked up at the building and started the long walk up to the lobby. Zac waited until he was actually inside before pulling away, stopping at the end of the driveway to check that his brother hadn’t come straight back out. He waited as long as he dared before pulling out onto the street.

“No way,” Jesse got to his feet as Taylor was brought into the cells, “what are you doing here?!”  
Taylor eyed the handlers without a word, instantly recognising both Mark and Keandre. He was led to the cell on the other side of Keandre and across from Mark. He stood hugging himself as the cell was locked but they waited until the handlers left before anyone spoke.  
“Morris call you too?” Mark guessed with a raised brow.  
“He did,” Taylor’s eyes went to Jesse, “he said when we got out last time that they were almost done with me. Hopefully… hopefully I’m here to finish this.”  
“Kind of taking your life in your hands there,” Mark was blunt.  
“Why would you trust them to do that?” Jesse was confused.  
“I don’t. But I’m tagged, I can’t run from them,” Taylor shrugged, “and I’m tired of running.”  
“When were you tagged?” Jesse frowned.  
“When we got off the plane from Russia.”  
“Care was too,” Mark added, “they’re taking care of their flight risks.”  
“Why are you here?” Taylor frowned, not having expected to see him.  
“Like I said, I got a call,” Mark shrugged, “and this was the lesser evil at the time.”  
“Is Alex here?” Taylor looked between them, “he said everyone was here except Mark.”  
“He is,” Jesse confirmed, “he’s with Damien. I think. He was given free access to parts of the building.”  
“Really?” Taylor’s brow rose.  
“It hasn’t been so much to our advantage yet,” Jesse turned to go back to his bed.  
He grabbed his rosary from the pillow and wound it around his right fist.  
“Where’s Carey?” Taylor looked to Mark.  
“I don’t know, I only got in yesterday,” Mark shrugged, “I haven’t even seen Morris.”  
“Weird,” Taylor’s eyes fell.  
He shot Keandre a glance who was just sitting on his bed watching the byplay before moving over to his own bed. The memories of the last time he’d been in the same cell were already making his skin crawl.

Alex was making his way through the corridors on his way to check on both Carey and Colin after breakfast. As he turned the corner into the hall where their rooms were, he spotted a blond woman leaving Colin’s room. In his pause as she closed the door behind herself he realised she looked familiar.  
“Excuse me,” he felt his nerves spiking as she turned to walk away.  
She stopped at the sound of his voice.  
“Yes?” she was oblivious.  
“Have we met?” he asked her, “I’m Alex. Alex Bell.”  
“I think I’d remember you,” she offered him a smile, “no, sorry.”  
“It’s okay,” he waved her off as she continued on her way.  
He stopped to look into Colin’s window for a moment before hearing a commotion from Carey’s room. He darted for the doorway to find him struggling to sit up on the bed with Emma’s help.  
“Alex!” he exclaimed when he saw him, “ _stop her_!”  
Alex frowned and looked back down the hall. The woman was gone.  
“Calm down!” Emma was insisting, “if it really was her, she’ll be back!”  
“What’s going on?” Alex finally came into the room, “who was that?”  
“That was Susan Reis!” Carey insisted, “Colin’s wife!”


	9. Chapter 9

“What kind of pass did she have?” Carey demanded.  
“I don’t know, I wasn’t paying attention!” Alex fretted, “maybe like Damien’s? It wasn’t like mine.”  
“If it’s like Damien’s that means she has to work here,” Carey was looking to Emma, “what if she was a plant?”  
“A what?” Alex’s eyes went wide.  
“You can’t be serious,” Emma was still trying to calm him down, “it might not even have been her. You got a two second glance through an obstructed window.”  
“I know what I saw!”  
“Why would she be a plant?” Alex was showing his worry as he stood at the end of the bed, “how long were they married?”  
“It was after we met him,” Carey looked to Emma for help.  
“Maybe… six or seven years?” she guessed.  
“But why? Why would they?” Alex frowned, “why not just take him in?”  
“To get to us, it’s obvious!” Carey was adamant, “through him they would have found me, they would have found Mark, _and_ they would have found Jesse. They had to have known about Taylor already.”  
“Just calm down,” Emma tried again, “there’s no proof of any of this.”  
“Not yet, but I’ll find it,” Carey insisted.  
“Taylor’s here,” Alex cut in, “he got in late yesterday.”  
“So everyone’s here?” Carey confirmed.  
“I guess…”  
“Get Damien up here I want to talk to him.”  
“Care do you really think-“  
“Not just about Susan,” Carey insisted with a shrug, cutting her off, “I got a few things I need to ask him. I’m just in a hurry.”

Damien opened his eyes when he heard someone enter the room.  
“Damien? Are you in here?” he heard Morris’ voice.  
“Who else would be?” he muttered, rolling his eyes.  
“…Do you mind coming out so we can talk?”  
Damien huffed a sigh before lifting the lid of the tanning bed. He leant over to switch it off before removing his goggles.  
“What?” he demanded, “what couldn’t wait until I was done?”  
“I got the results back from Carey Miller’s bio work today,” Morris ignored his impatience, “and we’ll be starting Taylor Hanson’s scans first thing this morning.”  
“So?” Damien frowned.  
“So…” Morris put his hands behind his back, “you might be more interested in the bio work from those two than first assumed.”  
“Why?” Damien was in no mood to play games.  
“Because as it turns out, those two appear to have more in common than first thought.”  
“How?” Damien’s look turned to disbelief, “Carey’s a mirror twin, he shouldn’t have anything in common with any of them!”  
“Well he does,” Morris spoke down, “which makes us lucky he survived his little incident.”  
“He only survived because his heart was in the wrong place to begin with,” Damien muttered, replacing his goggles, “technically they aren’t that close if they’re opposites. Just so you know.”  
“They may be the closest we’ve had so far. Really, their offspring should have been a hint. It’s worth looking at whether you believe it or not. This might help us work out the kinks moving forward.”  
“Kinks,” Damien smirked, turning the bed on again and laying down, “so that’s what you think of us.”  
Morris paused at that as Damien lowered the lid on himself again.  
“Your little friend Joey should be here just after lunch,” Morris said before turning to leave, “and if you persist with your attitude you might find your place here in question. Have a good day.”  
Damien held back a grunt as he mentally tried to work out how long it would be before lunch. 

Taylor meanwhile was laying on a slightly higher table, waiting for Morris to arrive. The two nurses either side of him seemed bored but his fingers were tapping erratically. He turned his head as he finally heard the door open, having to force himself not to sit up.  
“Ah, good morning!” Morris greeted everyone with a smile, “let’s get this out of the way so we can all take an early lunch, shall we?”  
He stepped over to where Taylor lay, looking down on him with an amused glint in his eye.  
“Have you ever had an MRI scan before?” he asked.  
“No,” Taylor admitted, obviously nervous.  
“Nothing to worry about,” Morris smiled, “you just need to remain as still as you possibly can for as long as you possibly can. Once you’re inside you’ll hear something like this…”  
He knocked gently against the side of the contraption.  
“…Which is just the machine doing its work. Any questions?”  
“How long will it take?” Taylor frowned.  
“Altogether over an hour, but we’ll try to stop for regular breaks,” Morris promised, “if you’re at all uncomfortable just let us know.”  
Taylor already knew he was going to be uncomfortable. The opening of the machine wasn’t very wide and he was already anxious about being in such a tight place. He soon began taking deep breaths to try and slow his heart rate.

Alex was standing in the doorway to Colin’s room, just staring at where he lay on the bed. His right eye was covered with bandages still but his left was closed somewhat peacefully.  
With a nervous look down the corridor toward Carey’s room, he finally worked up the nerve to walk inside.  
He didn’t remember much of his interaction with Colin. In fact, he didn’t remember interacting with him at all. He’d been silent the majority of the time in the cells in Nevada, and when he had talked it had only been to Carey and Morris. He wondered again how well he and Carey had gotten to know each other – and just how much of it Carey remembered now.  
Keeping an eye over his shoulder he had a quick look at Colin’s chart. It looked like the nurses were meticulous with their treatment schedule, and another check was due soon.  
He carefully made his way around the other side of the bed, trying to have a look at the side of Colin he couldn’t see from the doorway. Unlike Carey’s there were no blood spots on his bandages – Colin’s wounds must have long since healed. The monitors all seemed steady and unwavering, like he was just in a deep sleep.  
“Alex, right?”  
He nearly jumped out of his skin when he looked up to see the blond standing in the doorway.  
“You’re early,” was all he could say, grimacing when he realised it made him sound guilty.  
“I try to be,” she mused, stepping inside and closing the door behind her.  
Alex immediately felt trapped. He shouldn’t have come in to begin with, he should have just waited to tell Carey when she arrived.  
He backed away from the bed as she came toward it.  
“Your name is Susan, right?” his brow furrowed, wondering exactly how much trouble the closed door signified that he was in.  
“No,” she responded absently, collecting Colin’s chart.  
Alex was relieved. Carey had to have been seeing things after all.  
“But for a few years I pretended it was,” she added, looking up at Colin as she spoke.  
Alex’s eyes darted to his body. His nerves were spiking again.  
“You’re going to have questions,” she presumed aloud, “as part of my employment I’ve been instructed to answer anything not deemed classified.”  
“You have?” Alex’s brow furrowed.  
She ignored his need for confirmation, knowing he’d heard her perfectly the first time.  
“I don’t think I’m the one you should talk to,” he shrugged, “this is really… you should talk to Carey.”  
“Carey is a conspiracy theorist,” her eyes narrowed, almost in spite, “he made my mission hard from day one. I won’t be speaking to him unless I am specifically ordered to. Luckily Colin on the other hand was completely oblivious, absolutely certain nothing and no one could deceive him.”  
Alex looked down at Colin again. He couldn’t fathom the effort that had gone into playing the part.  
“But you were married to him,” he frowned, “…how? Why?”  
“I offered to go undercover,” she admitted, “I didn’t realise exactly how much of an asshole he was until it was too late. The things I had to do for him…”  
She visibly shuddered.  
“And that was on top of the prostitutes he had running accounts with.”  
Alex felt like he should apologise, but he wasn’t sure what for. He only knew what Colin had been up to through his accounts and payables. He didn’t know specifics.  
“He’s in a coma, right?” Alex felt the need to check, “don’t they say people in comas can hear what’s going on around them?”  
“I hope so,” she sent a glare in Colin’s direction, “I hope he’s heard everything I’ve said.”

Sometime in the early afternoon Morris paid Carey another visit. This time Emma had stepped out to call Natalie again and Carey was instantly on edge at being alone with him.  
“Good afternoon,” Morris smiled as he closed the door behind him – making it worse already, “how are you feeling today, Mr Miller?”  
“Is something wrong?” Carey didn’t move.  
“No, not at all,” Morris assured, “I just came to check up on you, and… offer an experimental procedure that may help with one of your problems.”  
“What problems?” Carey frowned, wondering if he meant his legs.  
“Your memory loss,” Morris elaborated, “we’ve been trialling some small procedures in relation to matters of the brain in another part of this institute. Some of the trials have shown improvement in patient memory.”  
“What kind of procedure?” Carey didn’t give away the sudden feeling of hope.  
“Some very minor electroshock therapy,” Morris admitted.  
“ _Electroshock_?” Carey’s brow jumped, “you want to shock my _brain_?”  
“Give it the jolt it might need to remember the past two years,” the doctor mused, “wouldn’t you find that helpful?”  
“Well yeah but-“  
“Great, I’ll schedule it as soon as possible,” Morris beamed, “until then, why don’t we see about getting you out of this bed.”  
“…Excuse me?” Carey was already confused.  
”I’d like to offer you the use of one of our wheelchairs. You won’t be able to go far, of course, but it might help you get some strength back into those arms…”

Both Mark and Keandre looked up as Taylor was returned to the cells.  
“So what happened?” Mark asked before he even had a chance to be locked in, “what exactly do I have to look forward to?”  
Taylor waited until the door was locked and the handler had left the cells.  
“It was an MRI,” he folded his arms, “a full body scan.”  
“That’s boring,” Mark scoffed.  
“And time consuming,” Taylor’s eyes wandered, landing on Jesse, “Jesse you okay?”  
“He’s fine,” Mark replied for him as Jesse looked up tiredly, “he’s been praying non-stop since he got that thing. A lot of help it’s doing.”  
“I’m not praying for me,” Jesse collected the rosary into the palm of his hand, “I’ve already got too many things I’m goin’ to hell for. I pray for everyone else.”  
“That’s encouraging,” Mark rolled his eyes.  
“Did you have an MRI?” Taylor asked him.  
“Yes, the first time,” Jesse admitted, “I should have most everything done already.”  
“Keandre?” Taylor made sure he had his attention first, “have you had scans done?”  
“Non,” he shook his head, not moving from the bed, “I no leave here for but… le sang.”  
He indicated his arm, and they got the general idea.  
“Basic shit,” Mark concluded, “he hasn’t been gone much since I’ve been here.”  
“They probably figure they have plenty of time,” Taylor shrugged, “he came in on his own.”  
“Makes you wonder, don’t it?” Mark scratched absently at his ankle, “exactly how long this is all gonna take. I haven’t been given a timeframe.”  
“They never give us one,” Taylor shook his head, “but they’ve never freed us either.”

Damien anxiously paced, checking the clock on the wall every few seconds. When the door finally opened he darted forward.  
“Oh, hey!” Joey froze up as Damien pulled him into a hug.  
“I’m glad you’re back,” he said before letting him go, “are you okay? Did anything happen?”  
“No. I’m fine,” Joey eyed him almost suspiciously, adjusting the backpack strap on his shoulder, “but _you_ don’t look fine.”  
“I am,” Damien was taken aback.  
“You need to chill,” Joey’s brow rose, “or you’re gonna have a heart attack.”  
He started walking back down the corridor towards Damien’s quarters. Damien rolled his eyes before following.  
“What did you even bring with you?” he frowned, eyeing his backpack.  
“Food. Better food than here,” Joey kept walking, making Damien catch up, “and this handheld game thing, I gotta show you. And some books.”  
“Books?” Damien’s brow rose.  
“Yeah. Schoolwork, would you believe? Who knew having parents would be such a drag.”


	10. Chapter 10

Taylor flinched as the door opened and Mark’s eyes shot across to him. He was about to ask why but quickly realised the answer was obvious. The labs had made him a nervous wreck.  
When they heard a fumble at the door and suddenly paid more attention, Mark shot to his feet.  
“Care?!” his brow furrowed as he hit the cell door.  
“Mark?” Carey had to look up to check where he was.  
He gave the others an awkward look as he pushed the wheelchair forward, before a handler that had been with him opted to help.  
“Hey Jesse,” he gave him a nod as he passed on the way to Mark’s cell.  
“Carey,” he returned, not moving from the bed.  
“Care you okay?” Mark was looking worried.  
It was the first time he’d laid eyes on his twin since the hospital in LA. While he was ecstatic to see him awake, the leg casts and bandages reminded him of why he’d been there in the first place.  
“Great,” Carey was sarcastic, “what about… whoa.”  
He stopped and stared as the handler turned to leave him there.  
“What?” Mark frowned, before realising and quickly covering his cheek.  
“What…? What happened?” Carey looked confused.  
“Long story,” Mark tried to blow off.  
“Not that long,” Jesse considered, “basically – Russians.”  
“The Russians did that?” Carey’s brow rose.  
“How do you know about the Russians?” Mark frowned.  
“Alex told me. Sort of,” he shrugged, “he told me they killed his Mom.”  
“What happened to her?” Taylor asked, standing opposite with his arms folded.  
“I don’t know, I didn’t ask,” Carey looked him up and down, “…Taylor?”  
“Yeah,” he confirmed, shooting Jesse an awkward glance.  
“Do you remember him?” Mark frowned.  
“Sort of,” Carey looked between them, “I remember talking to you in Tulsa. With your brother at the motel.”  
“That was a long time ago,” Taylor’s brow rose.  
“I’m missing a lot,” Carey’s face fell, “but they might be doing something about that soon.”  
“Well this is someone who-“ Mark went to indicate Keandre before stopping himself, “wait, what?”  
“What were you going to say?” Carey’s eyes went to the Frenchman.  
“You first,” Mark demanded, “what are they doing about it?”  
Carey checked over his shoulder, but only the guard remained in the room with them.  
“Electroshock,” he was still uneasy about it, “that Dr Morris guy said they were trialling something elsewhere and it had promise.”  
“Are you fucking kidding?!” Mark demanded, “why would you agree to that?!”  
“What else am I going to do?” Carey responded in kind, “they might never come back on their own, but this gives me a chance!”  
“What if they fry your brain, huh? What if you lose more?!”  
Carey just shook his head, not having enough of a defence yet.  
“You’re going to let them experiment on you?” Taylor’s brow furrowed from the next cell.  
“It’s hardly an experiment if it’s already proven,” Carey shot him a glance.  
“A hundred percent?” Mark’s brow rose.  
“Can we change the subject, please? I didn’t use all my energy to get down here to argue,” Carey winced.  
“Are you here for a reason?” Mark frowned worriedly.  
“To see you,” he shrugged, “and to get out of that room. I’ve been stuck in bed since whenever I got here. The only people I’ve seen have been Emma, Alex and the doctor.”  
“Where’s Alex now?” Jesse asked.  
“I don’t know,” Carey shrugged, “he usually comes by in the afternoon so he might get there and find an empty room today.”  
“And where’s Emma?” Mark was still frowning.  
“Waiting for me to come back. She wasn’t allowed down here.”  
“You’re okay with leaving her alone out there?” Taylor was cautious.  
“She was alone when I was unconscious,” Carey shrugged, “nothing’s happened. She did want me to update her on what you were doing so that she could let… Natalie is it? Let her know.”  
“Well I’ve been for more tests,” Taylor shrugged back, “supposedly there’s only a couple more to do and I can go home.”  
“I’ll tell her that,” Carey gave him a nod.  
“Thank you.”  
“Is she doing okay?” Mark asked.  
“She’s fine. She’s not happy with you,” Carey shifted the chair a little.  
“I don’t blame her,” Mark assured.  
“She wouldn’t tell me everything,” Carey went on, “I was kinda hoping you’d offer me more.”  
“What do you know?” Mark decided to test the waters first.

“Just drop your bag in here and we’ll go get an update,” Damien held the door open.  
“What’s wrong with my room?” Joey frowned as he stepped inside.  
“It’s not your room anymore.”  
“I’ve heard of this happening,” Joey shook his head, faking sadness, “as soon as the kids leave the parents start changing everything. Like we didn’t even exist.”  
“I’m not your father,” Damien scorned, watching as he set his backpack on the sofa.  
Joey paused, looking around.  
“Who else is staying here?” he frowned, “don’t tell me you got a girlfriend?”  
“Of course not,” Damien scoffed, “I have one of the C series staying here.”  
“C series?” Joey’s brow rose in surprise.  
“There’s a lot to catch up on,” Damien insisted, “but we need to focus on the G series first.”  
“Whatever,” Joey muttered, following him from the room again.  
They were halfway down the hall when Alex rounded a corner and stopped in his tracks. His eyes instantly went to Joey.  
“Is that him?” Joey had stopped to stare as well.  
“Yes,” Damien came up beside him.  
“What’s going on?” Alex frowned, his heart racing as he looked between them, “what is this?”  
“Alex, this is Joey,” Damien quickly introduced, “he’s-“  
“You’re a clone,” Alex had already caught on, “but…”  
“We really don’t have time for this,” Damien insisted, “we can talk later.”  
“How old are you?” Alex couldn’t pull his eyes away.  
“How old are _you_?” Joey frowned back.  
“He’s fourteen,” Damien scowled.  
“Fourteen?!”  
“How old is-“  
“He’s thirty-four,” Damien cut Joey off, “we need to go downstairs and see what’s happening.”  
“Well shouldn’t he come with us?” Joey indicated Alex, “why haven’t you told him? Why hasn’t _anyone_ told him?”  
Damien grunted, rolling his eyes. He didn’t want to deal with this right now.  
“The C series wasn’t a one-off, was it?” Alex demanded, feeling his adrenaline pumping, “I saw the files on your laptop. That was a long list of clones.”  
“Okay… that’s a _lot_ that you haven’t told him,” Joey’s eyes went to his friend.  
“How many series’ are there?”  
“Mine was second last so…” Joey counted on his fingers, “eight all up.”  
“But they weren’t all from the same DNA,” Damien countered, “there were only five from the Hanson DNA. Technically one.”  
“And a bit,” Joey added, “I guess yours doesn’t count.”  
“What does that mean?” Alex looked to Damien, his head spinning.  
“I kept saying I wasn’t one of you,” Damien still wasn’t in the mood, “I was never one of the C series.”  
“D for Damien,” Joey smirked, “the one and only.”  
“That doesn’t make sense,” Alex shook his head.  
“Sure it does, he’s five years younger than you,” Joey shrugged, “they used leftover DNA to make him and then they used him to make the rest of us.”  
Alex’s hands went to his head. He wasn’t sure if he was regretting the decision to come here or not.  
“At twelve per year that’s like sixty clones,” he realised aloud.  
“There aren’t half that many left alive,” Damien grabbed Joey by the arm, “we have to go. We’ll meet you later Alex.”  
Joey begrudgingly followed with obedience. Alex watched them go, fighting the urge to go after them. Instead he rushed back to Damien’s room.  
The sight of Joey’s backpack on the sofa confirmed he hadn’t imagined it all, but he headed straight for the laptop to look up the files he’d originally found.   
The list was still there. This time, he paid attention to the birth dates.  
As hinted at, there were records of twelve embryos for each series. There was an A and B series before the names he knew, but a lot of them didn’t have a date of birth. The further down the list he scrolled, the more successful births there seemed to be.  
The word ‘DECEASED’ appeared next to a lot of those too. More worryingly, for a few earlier subjects that word was ‘TERMINATED’.  
Alex sat back in his chair and rubbed his face, unsure if he wanted to continue down this path. He really was dying to know, but it all seemed too much too soon. He wished he had Jesse or Mark for backup.  
He nearly jumped out of his skin when he sensed someone standing over him. He looked up to see one of the security guards, Morris flanking him from the doorway.  
“Move away from the computer Mr Bell,” the guard ordered, indicating the sofa.  
“Am I in trouble?” Alex’s voice shook with nerves, before quickly forcing himself to move.  
“You’re not in trouble,” Morris assured from behind the guard, stepping inside and closing the door behind them, “but we need to talk.”  
As Alex took a seat the security guard made his way to the laptop to check what was on the screen. After a nod to Morris he closed the lid and took up post by the desk. Alex began to fidget with his pass, hoping fervently that it was going to help him.  
“We’re aware that Damien has been introducing you to the cloning projects,” Morris assured, “but we worry that he may be breaching the limitations we placed on him to begin with.”  
“Is he in trouble?” Alex’s brow furrowed.  
“Not yet,” Morris assured again, “but he may be soon. Ever since the C series became known to us he’s been a little… put out by your presence.”  
Morris appeared to be trying to word it delicately.  
“Damien has grown with us since he was a child. It’s my understanding that now our attention has wavered from his contributions he may be exhibiting a little jealousy.”  
“I haven’t noticed anything,” Alex’s eyes wandered before landing on Morris again, “should I be worried?”  
“No, no. He seems to have taken a shine to you,” Morris insisted, “we’re more worried about his focus on his work, or lack thereof.”  
Alex began to twiddle his thumbs, waiting for Morris to go on.  
“Our main concern as far as your involvement stems is that you remain aware that what you are being told, and indeed what you are witnessing here on these levels, is highly classified.”  
“I know,” Alex quickly reassured.  
“What this means is, you cannot tell anyone about what you are seeing here,” Morris’ eyes narrowed slightly.  
“I know,” Alex insisted, “but I don’t really have anyone to tell anyway.”  
“This includes Jesse Musgrove.”  
Alex felt his face instantly go red and had to divert his eyes.  
“Not to mention the rest of your group – Marcus, Keandre, Taylor… Carey.”  
“I’m sorry I thought they’d be cleared,” Alex frowned without looking up.  
“Fortunately for them, they don’t have a future here,” Morris relented, “we expect them to return to the wild, so to speak. Which means we can’t have them wandering around in public talking about the processes that go on here. You on the other hand, are special.”  
Alex blanched a little. Morris was obviously trying to make it sound like a good thing, but it really didn’t.  
“You have an opportunity to see behind the curtain, while at the same time helping our cause along.”  
“Jesse already knows a lot of things,” Alex admitted, “I’m not sure what he can and can’t know.”  
“We’ve been listening to those conversations,” Morris admitted, “and we’d simply like you to leave it where it is. Don’t tell him any more than you already have. That shouldn’t be too hard, right Alexander?”  
“No,” he conceded.  
“Good,” Morris smiled, “I take it you’ve met Joseph?”  
“The young guy? Yeah.”  
“We’ll start with his existence. Jesse does not need to know about him.”  
“Okay,” he hung his head.  
Alex could tell already that this was going to be hard. He’d been torn between coming straight back to the room and going to tell Jesse right away.


	11. Chapter 11

It wasn’t until a handler came to fetch Taylor for another round of scans that Carey left the cells. On his way down the hall toward the surgical sector, Taylor glanced over his shoulder as Carey was pushed in the opposite direction.  
“Would it be possible to have a moment alone with Jesse at some point?” he asked the handler guiding him.  
“I don’t think so,” the man replied, “he’s under twenty-four hour guard.”  
Taylor chewed his lip at that, wondering exactly how secure that was. They didn’t always have somebody in the cells with them but he knew there was always a security guard standing outside.  
He just wasn’t sure Jesse would want this conversation overheard.

Alex hadn’t moved. He looked up from where he sat on the couch as the door opened, rubbing his sweaty palms on his lap when he saw Damien leading Joey back in. Both had dismal looks on their faces.  
When Damien didn’t bother saying anything as he removed his coat and Joey closed the door, Alex had to gather his nerves.  
“Morris was here,” he began, already worried about how Damien might react.  
“Here?” Damien turned to him with a frown, “why?”  
“To warn me,” his brow furrowed, “that I was learning things I shouldn’t.”  
“What does that mean?” Joey frowned from where he was still leaning against the closed door.  
Damien shot him a glance as he began to catch on. Alex’s eyes darted between them, still very unnerved about Joey’s appearance.  
“Does he think you’re a security risk?” Damien asked.  
“No,” Alex replied, “but he said that I could be.”  
“That’s ridiculous,” Damien scoffed, heading for the bathroom, “he should be more concerned with our real security risk, not harassing the newbies.”  
“What real security risk?” Joey frowned after him.  
“Whoever ratted us out to the Russians,” Damien called before the bathroom door closed.  
Joey gave Alex an awkward glance before heading for his backpack. Alex leaned away slightly as he retrieved it from the couch beside him.  
“Is something wrong?” Alex asked him.  
Joey scoffed in a similar way to what Damien just had. Alex watched as he started to rifle through the backpack, coming out with an old-looking Nintendo DS.  
“What are you playing?” Alex asked as Joey took a seat at the laptop desk and put his feet up.  
“Mario Kart,” he replied, starting the DS up.  
“Which one?”  
Joey paused before looking up.  
“What do you mean?” he looked confused.  
“Never mind,” Alex diverted, glad when the bathroom door opened again.  
“What exactly did he say to you?” Damien demanded the moment he lay eyes on him again.  
“Uh… just that I had to be careful about what I was telling Jesse and the others,” Alex shrugged awkwardly, “that I was learning more than I should be and that it was classified information. He said I couldn’t tell anyone about Joey.”  
Joey looked up at that.  
“Why would he be worried about you telling Jesse?” Damien frowned.  
“I don’t know,” Alex shrugged, “for the others he said it was because he was planning to let them go and he didn’t want them out there knowing everything. I think.”  
“They all know about the clones already. They _are_ clones!”  
“Jesse’s the only one who knows there’s more than twelve of us,” Alex responded softly, intimidated by Damien’s anger.  
Damien paused at that, remembering something from Russia. How the Miller twins had talked about the number twelve and how Mark had insisted it was wrong.  
“How many of the C series are actually here?” Joey broke the moment of tense silence, “all of them?”  
“Yes. Seven,” Damien folded his arms.  
“So I guess I don’t get to meet them then or…?”  
“Of course not,” Damien scorned.  
“Whatever,” Joey went back to his game.  
“You’d want to?” Alex was somewhat surprised, though he knew more than one of his series who’d love to meet him in return.  
“Well yeah, you guys are like our history,” Joey shrugged, “forefathers and all that.”  
“They’re not your history, I am,” Damien’s eyes narrowed.  
“And without them there wouldn’t be a you. Go figure.”  
“You mean without the legal furore surrounding them.”  
“Whatever.”  
“I wasn’t made _from_ them I was made _as well as_ them. How hard is that for people to understand?!”  
Joey ignored the outburst, continuing to play his game.  
“What would the Russians want with the G series?” Damien murmured to himself, his adrenaline still pumping.  
“The Russians?” Alex’s brow rose, “they’re… they’re back?”  
“They’re after my generation,” Joey said absently, “which is why I’m stuck here.”  
“Where are they? What are they doing? What do they want?!”  
“Not here,” Damien insisted, his eyes on Alex, “calm down.”  
Alex stood and made his way to the side wall, opposite where Joey was sitting. Joey’s eyes followed him.  
“What did they do to you guys?” he frowned, pausing the game, “what did they want?”  
“We don’t know,” Damien replied.  
“They killed my Mom,” Alex was fidgeting as he paced a little, “they shot her.”  
“Adoptive or birth?” Joey looked between them.  
Damien paused before looking over his shoulder.  
“I don’t know I was never actually told,” Alex admitted, “I… I assumed adopted because we looked so different but now I don’t know. She told me I was adopted.”  
“We can look at your records and find out,” Damien looked bored.  
“You were gone for ages,” Joey pulled the subject back, “what were you doing in Russia?”  
“Nothing.”  
“He’s right,” Alex confirmed, “they locked us up and just left us there until Jesse got us out.”  
Joey pulled a face at that.  
“That seems pointless. Why even take you in the first place?” he shrugged.  
“We don’t know,” Alex shrugged.  
“They were performing surgeries on Mark Miller,” Damien’s eyes went to Joey, “to reduce some scarring. Their motive has something to do with us needing to look identical.”  
“Did it leak that our gen was the successful one?” Joey frowned, suddenly worried.  
“I don’t know,” Damien shook his head.  
“You guys are identical?” Alex’s eyes shot to Joey, “how many of you are there?”  
“Ten,” Joey replied, making Alex’s brow rise, “but thanks to the Russians, technically three.”  
“The others should be fine,” Damien dismissed, “they want them alive.”  
“But I’m not even safe here, right?”  
Damien shot a glance at Alex, whose eyes hit the floor. The moment of silence was all Joey needed.  
“Great,” he pulled his feet from the table and reached for his backpack, pulling out some Doritos, “guess I better make the most of freedom while I still have it.”  
“We won’t let them get you,” Damien insisted, “we’ve upgraded security since I was taken. There’s a lot more eyes on this place now. It’s the only way I’m sleeping at night.”  
“Sure.”  
“Do you know how they got in last time?” Alex felt his stomach churning already at the thought of an invasion.  
“Surveillance was compromised on the night, but they know the areas,” Damien replied.  
“So nothing to stop them coming in a different way,” Joey muttered, reaching for the DS again after licking his fingers.  
Alex looked up at Damien again in time to catch the contempt on his face.  
“I guess we’ll see,” he said, “I’m going to have a shower. Don’t disappear while I’m gone.”  
Joey pulled another face as Damien disappeared. As they heard the water start to run Alex began to pace again, biting at his nails.

“Thank you Taylor,” Morris was carefully removing the pads from his temples, “just one more test and you’re all done.”  
“One?” his brow rose and he pulled the monitor from his pointer finger himself.  
“Just one,” Morris promised, taking it from him and setting it aside.  
“The visual test, right?” he checked, waiting for the okay to stand up from the chair.  
“Correct.”  
Taylor remembered Isaac talking about it. While he couldn’t wait to get it over and done with, he wasn’t looking forward to it in the slightest.  
“When?” he asked, watching the nurses put everything away and Morris start to transfer the data from the computer.  
“Possibly tomorrow morning, if all goes well,” he responded absently, “tonight if they go even better.”  
Taylor did a quick calculation in his head. It should still have been within the timeframe he’d given Zac.  
“Then I can go?” he checked.  
“Then you can go.”  
He bit his lip, still not sure if he could trust it. Morris took a while longer before instructing a handler to return Taylor to his cell and fetch Mark instead. Mark was apprehensive as they swapped places, but Taylor was somewhat relieved to be back in Jesse’s company.  
“I need to tell you something,” he stood against the wall they shared once the handlers had gone.  
Keandre looked up from his bed with interest as Jesse turned to look over his shoulder.  
“What’s that?” he asked.  
Taylor eyed the guard, still unsure if he should. But he was worried he wouldn’t get another chance.  
“Who did you call from my house?”  
“Sorry?”  
“The night the Russians came,” Taylor frowned, “you said you called someone, and they didn’t answer.”  
“I can’t tell you that,” Jesse said simply.  
Keandre’s eyes were darting between them. Taylor hugged himself, eyeing the guard again.  
“I think I met him.”  
Jesse frowned, before turning properly on the bed.  
“He came looking for you, and he found me instead,” Taylor elaborated.  
“What did he say to you?” the look didn’t leave Jesse’s face.  
“Nothing,” Taylor shrugged, “I didn’t get a name or anything. He wanted to know why you were in Tulsa. I told him you were in Dallas.”  
Jesse’s eyes lowered in thought before he turned his back again.  
“I told him exactly where you were, and I’m hoping I did the right thing,” Taylor frowned at his reaction.  
“Maybe,” Jesse appeared lost in thought, “maybe you did.”  
Taylor took a deep breath before going back to his own bed to sit down.

Once Morris was done with Mark for the morning, he took a break for lunch before making his way to Carey’s room. Carey was still sitting in the wheelchair, preferring the freedom of movement it allowed him.  
He’d been getting an update on Ellie when Morris knocked on the door and made him turn around.  
“Forgive the interruption,” Morris offered the couple a smile, “but if you’re ready, we’ll prepare you for the procedure this afternoon.”  
“What procedure?” Emma looked to her husband right away.  
“Sure,” Carey agreed, watching after him as Morris stepped back into the hallway.  
“What procedure?!” Emma demanded, hitting him on the arm.  
“It’s an experiment,” Carey admitted, “they’re going to try and help me get some of my memory back.”  
“And what, you didn’t think that was worth telling me about?” Emma scowled.  
“I haven’t known for long myself,” Carey shrugged, “and I wasn’t entirely sure I was going through with it. But now…”  
“Now what?”  
“Now I think I need to,” Carey was staring at the bed, “after talking to Mark, I really need to.”  
Emma bit her lip, looking toward the door as they heard more footsteps.  
“What did he tell you?” she asked, worried.  
“Everything I hope,” Carey’s brow rose as the handlers appeared.


	12. Chapter 12

Carey felt himself shivering as he sat in the dentist-like chair, surrounded by surgical lighting and his head already positioned in a frame. Morris hadn’t arrived yet but he knew it was a different part of the facility and that he might not even show up.  
“Almost ready Mr Miller,” one of the nurses reassured him.  
“Great,” he barely got out, fingers starting to tap on the arms of the chair with his nerves.  
One of them placed some pads at his temples before connecting the wires. Then out of the corner of his eye, he saw the razor.  
“Do you have to shave my head?” his brow furrowed in worry.  
“Only a small patch,” the nurse assured, pulling her mask down to offer a smile, “the rest of your hair should cover it.”  
“Okay,” his eyes darted, hoping she was telling the truth.  
He felt her clipping part of the back of his hair aside so that she could cut a small square. After she’d shaved it she injected a numbing agent. It was an odd sensation and made him feel a little dizzy. He was just hoping he could fall asleep when Morris finally appeared.  
“How are we in here?” he smiled at the nurse who’d given Carey the needle.  
“Doing well so far,” she responded.  
“Carey? How are you feeling?” he stood in front of the chair.  
“Tired,” Carey replied, glad to see him there.  
“Well I’m sorry but we’ll need to keep you awake for a little while longer,” Morris mused, “we need to keep you awake and talking.”  
His eyes were on the nurse who’d been behind Carey since Morris had walked in. Carey knew better than to move his head but he was worried about when she might start.  
“How long does this take?” he asked instead.  
“We’re nearly there,” the nurse sounded distracted already.  
“As it is still an experimental procedure, we’re not quite sure how long,” Morris offered him, eyes still on the nurse, “it may simply be a case of trial and error.”  
“Not too much error I hope,” Carey smirked.  
Morris smiled again before changing the subject.  
“How did it feel to wake up and find out you had a child out there? A daughter?” his eyes lowered to Carey.  
“I don’t know,” Carey frowned, “I think I was more worried about losing a finger.”  
“Yes, that was a shame,” the doctor’s eyes wandered again.  
“When does it start?” Carey worked up the nerve to ask.  
“It’s well underway,” Morris confirmed.  
Carey clenched his teeth, trying not to focus on feeling anything.  
“How have you been faring without the finger?” Morris continued to coax.  
“I haven’t really had to do anything with it yet, besides move the wheelchair,” he resisted the urge to shrug, “that was hard enough with plasters.”  
He jolted suddenly when he felt a sharp pain in his neck.  
“Carey?” Morris was watching closely, “what did you feel?”  
“My neck,” he frowned, “just like a jolt.”  
“Let me know if it hurts too much,” Morris seemed to blow it off, “but there should only be mild irritation for the moment.”  
“Okay,” Carey bit his lip.  
“How are you finding the accommodations here?” Morris continued.  
“They could be worse,” Carey jumped at the distraction, “at least I’m eating something other than potato.”  
He paused as the doctor’s eyes fell to his.  
“Could you repeat that?” Morris asked him.  
“At least I’m eating something other than potato,” Carey said slower, “because we had nothing but potato in Russia.”  
His hands gripped the chair tighter and Morris put a hand on his shoulder.  
“Stay still,” he warned, “we are far from done yet.”

Taylor exercised his jaw as the lights came on and the ear muffs were removed. His teeth had clenched so hard his jaw was now aching.  
“You’ve done well,” Morris assured, “the results are very similar to your brother’s, in fact.”  
“They are?” his brow furrowed as he waited for Morris to release his wrists.  
“Definitely a nurture over nature aspect, I would assume,” Morris confirmed, undoing the buckles.  
Taylor shook his hands out once they were free before standing from the chair. He had no idea how he was supposed to sleep after what he’d just been through.  
When he was taken back to the cells he realised he’d missed the dinner rounds, and the handler had to order something especially for him. With the promise that it wouldn’t take long he was locked in and left.  
“So?” Mark was standing with his arms folded.  
“It was about as fun as Ike said it would be,” Taylor confirmed, taking a seat.  
“I don’t remember it,” Jesse admitted uncomfortably, “I remember going for it but… not what happened after.”  
“Has Keandre been yet?” Taylor looked between them.  
“I don’t think he’s been for _anything_ yet,” Mark gave the Frenchman a glance, unsure if he understood, “I think they’re only rushing mine because Care’s here.”  
“Makes sense,” Taylor reasoned.  
The door soon opened and Taylor’s food was brought in. Surprisingly, it wasn’t much longer before lights out.

Alex and Joey barely spoke a word to each other while Damien had showered, and the room remained quiet even when he returned. Alex spent the whole time sitting in silence on the couch, running through a million questions he wanted to ask Joey. What was his life like? Where did he live? How did he already know about all the clone projects? How did he know about the C series?  
He’d caught Joey looking him over a few times, but he wasn’t sure if it was because he wanted to talk to him or if he was just judging how he’d aged. It was kind of what he had to look forward to.  
“Joey you’ll take the couch,” Damien was the first one to speak as he got ready for bed.  
“I gathered that,” he wasn’t putting his game down, or moving from the chair.  
Alex twiddled his thumbs for a moment before deciding to head for the shower himself. Hopefully by the time he emerged they’d have sorted themselves out.  
He heard them starting to talk the moment he closed the door and his face flushed red. He was sure they had to be talking about him, but he didn’t want to eavesdrop.  
By the time he emerged Damien had set up the couch but Joey still hadn’t moved. They were talking more amicably.  
“How come we’re the only ones though?” Joey had finally put the DS down, “like the C series and the G series. Why not the others?”  
“They were hardly going to take E, and H are still onsite,” Damien muttered, fixing his sheets.  
“There’s still F. Not like they’d be hard to find.”  
“G are still in the foster system, F are not.”  
“How many clones are out there?” Alex couldn’t help but jump in, his curiosity getting the better of him.  
Joey’s eyes went to Damien.  
“Two of the E series,” Damien relented with a sigh, “five of the F, and…”  
“There’s two G’s the Russians haven’t taken besides me,” Joey held two fingers up in a peace sign.  
“Two E’s?” Alex took a seat on his bed, “what happened to the other ten?”  
Joey and Damien shared a glance.  
“He hasn’t met Evan,” Joey surmised.  
“No, and he isn’t going to,” Damien insisted, “what happened to the E series is what happens when you don’t take care of your projects. Clone surveillance is for more than one reason.”  
“What happened to the E series?” Alex frowned.  
“The bogeyman happened,” Joey was serious.  
“They aren’t with us anymore, that’s what matters,” Damien scorned.  
“And who’s Evan?” Alex could feel the tension rising.  
“The bogeyman,” Joey smirked, “they keep him in the basement.”  
“It’s not a basement,” Damien scorned, “and we’re not going to talk about this. We need to sleep.”  
Joey groaned, finally pulling himself from the chair.  
“But there are nine other clones out there somewhere?” Alex had counted, “that look just like us?”  
“Younger,” Joey corrected, kicking his shoes off and nearly falling over in the process, “well, older than me. But like babies to you.”  
“Some aren’t too different,” Damien considered, “the E series were decanted in ’93 so they’re mid-twenties already.”  
“Old,” Joey muttered, falling into the couch.  
“The others are teenagers.”  
“Why would they make so many clones?” Alex was confused, “after what happened with us? After what happened with the Hansons?”  
“Once Walker and Diana Hanson fled the country DIGER were able to secure the legal control they needed over the embryos. You became wards of the state, despite being unaccounted for,” Damien explained as he got under the covers, “after a slight change in government after the 1984 election they were able to get the ball rolling on getting the permissions they needed to clone a human being. In the lead up to the 1988 takeover by Bush those permissions were granted and I was decanted before the end of the year.”  
“What happened to your mother?” Alex wasn’t moving himself.  
“My carrier was a pawn. She was paid well and sent on her way,” Damien leant over to turn off the lights, “good night.”  
“Night,” Joey returned, settling into the couch.  
It wasn’t long after Damien had closed his eyes that Alex saw the tell-tale sign of the DS screen light against the far wall. Joey obviously had it under the covers.  
Alex sat up a little longer to contemplate what he’d learned, but in the end decided he wanted to be alert enough in the morning to hopefully keep the conversation going.  
He needed to learn as much as he could as fast as he could, especially if the Russians were still going to be a problem.

Taylor remained on the bed when the lights came on the following morning, feeling his nerves spike right away. As the others stirred awake he was worried about what the day would bring. He was supposed to be done here… so would he be going home?  
It wasn’t long before their breakfast arrived, and nothing was said by the handlers. Jesse was insisting that he shouldn’t worry, but Mark wasn’t helping in the slightest. When the handlers returned for their trays one of them paused at Taylor’s cell.  
“You’ve got a phone call to make,” he informed him, indicating for the guard to come and unlock the door.  
“A phone call?” Taylor’s brow furrowed.  
“Morris has asked that we take you to a phone so you can organise to be collected.”  
Taylor’s heart leapt into his throat as the door opened and he nearly jumped to his feet. The other handlers separated from them in the corridor as the one who’d spoken led him to a phone attached to a wall. At his indication to go ahead, Taylor picked up the receiver and dialled Zac’s number. He’d taken the time before he’d left to make sure he knew it off by heart.  
“Yes?” Zac answered surprisingly fast for the time of morning Taylor knew it must be.  
“Zac it’s me,” Taylor kept his eyes down, “they want you to come pick me up.”  
“Really?” he sounded as surprised as Taylor felt, “when?”  
“As soon as you can, I think,” he frowned, “they’re supposed to be finished with me now.”  
“And this isn’t a joke…?”  
“Not as far as I’m aware.”  
“Okay well… do you want me to fly down so I get there today?”  
“Please God yes,” Taylor breathed.  
“Done. I’ll be there before the end of the day.”  
“Thank you. I can’t wait to get out of here.”  
“I bet. See you soon Tay.”  
“Thanks Zac.”  
He bit his lip as Zac hung up, before returning the receiver to the wall.

Carey grinned when Emma appeared in his doorway, immediately working to push himself up on the bed.  
“Good morning,” she greeted somewhat warily, closing the door behind her.  
“Good morning,” he returned, waiting patiently for his morning kiss.  
She made sure to give it to him before taking her usual seat.  
“So? How did it go?” she was looking him over.  
“Surprisingly well,” he assured, “I think they went as far as the Doc wanted to take it, but I wouldn’t mind going for another session or two.”  
“Why?” Emma frowned.  
“I remember Ellie,” he could barely contain himself.  
Emma’s eyes lit up and she jumped from the chair again to throw her arms around him.  
“Not very well,” he admitted right away, “but I remember what she looks like, and I remember spending time with her.”  
“That’s good enough for me,” Emma kissed him again, “I can’t wait for you to see her again.”  
“I can’t wait for the three of us to be together again,” Carey bit his lip, suddenly having to force himself to keep it together.  
Emma took a deep breath before sitting down again.  
“Anything else?” she asked.  
“I still don’t remember the assault,” he admitted, “but I got flashes of Russia. I’m not sure I want to remember any more of that.”  
“You got Ellie back,” Emma shrugged, “I say you cut and run while you’re ahead.”  
“Yeah…” Carey didn’t seem sure, “maybe.”  
“Maybe?” Emma’s brow rose.  
“I don’t know,” he scratched at his arm, “I feel like I got her back, so… what else am I missing? What if there’s something important?”  
“More important than her?”  
He gave her an awkward glance before his eyes fell to the bed.  
“Of course not,” he insisted, “but we’re not exactly sitting in a room with a view here. I still don’t know how long I have to stay here.”  
“Has Morris said anything recently?”  
“No,” he shook his head, “I don’t think he wants to talk about it until I get the casts off.”  
“That can’t be far away,” Emma reasoned, “maybe you should bring it up?”  
“I will,” he agreed, “I’ll do it next time I see him.”  
He hesitated.  
“Maybe I can talk him into letting me out before I get the casts off,” he added thoughtfully.

Taylor stopped in his tracks on the way back to the cells. They’d arrived just in time to see Jesse being taken out in shackles.  
“What’s going on?” he frowned as the handler turned to take him by the arm, thinking he was only resisting his return to the lockup.  
Jesse turned to look over his shoulder when he heard his voice. He was surrounded by three security guards and a handler. He offered Taylor a reassuring smile before continuing on his way.  
“Come on,” Taylor’s handler insisted, pulling him forward.  
Once he was back inside he found out from Mark that it had been time for Jesse’s meeting with Homeland Security. He absently wondered if any of the guards had been Homeland officers, but he was more preoccupied now with Zac’s forthcoming arrival.  
For the first time, he was going home.


End file.
